Deliverance
by NovaCaine9923
Summary: An outbreak of a bizarre, unidentified illness takes place, and the only known answer lies in the strangest place. What follows is a story of discovery, friendship, and mankind's darkest instincts.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, there!**

 **If you decided to click on this story, you are probably a part of either the TF2 fandom, the Overwatch fandom, or both. Chances are, you've seen that SFM animation trending right now which is a crossover between these two games, and I should tell you right here and right now that this story is NOT based on that video (the video is very good, but still). I conceived this idea before that video was released, and though I'm in the middle of another story right now, I could not shake this story from my head. I just had to write it out!**

 **I should also clarify that I've known TF2 longer than I've known Overwatch, and I'm rather new to the Overwatch fandom. Due to this, if I miss a detail about the lore or a character, don't hesitate to let me know so I can fix it. I've spent the past week or so doing research, so I think I'm good, but if something is wrong you can tell me. I don't bite!**

 **And now, without further ado, here is Deliverance.**

* * *

Chapter 1:

The harsh wind blew across the dusty plains as a feminine figure headed towards a deserted base sitting miles away. She stopped for a moment, taking in the scenery, and then picked up the pace.

Her name was Lena, though she was known as Tracer by many. Tracer knew the importance of this place, as it had sat there for more than a hundred years, so she was careful as she swung the large, garage door open.

She stood there for a moment, looking around, and then pulled out the crinkled map.

"Right ahead," she muttered to herself, stepping straight forward.

The door to the medic's quarters was slightly ajar, so she walked right inside. Instantly, a strange feeling enveloped her: the room was so small, yet many parts were still intact. The rusted operating table lay right in the center, and cabinets and shelves sat against the wall. She tried to imagine the medic in here, a hundred years earlier, working on his patients in this tiny room.

Tracer shook herself out of this thought- she had to focus. She went to the shelves, finding a few books and papers still there, only to notice that they were too damaged from age to be of use. Not giving up, she turned her attention to the cabinets next, only to stop at the sound of humming not too far away. Tracer froze, listening.

She realized who it was after about thirty seconds. "Oh, bloody hell! Of course, he went in here!"

Tracer shut the cabinet and ran out of the room, following the humming and treading up the stairs. Sure enough, she found him nonchalantly stuffing explosives into every crack of the landing, humming a tune and acting like what he was doing was natural.

"Jamison!" snapped Tracer, using his real name to get his attention.

Junkrat paused, jerking up. "Oi! G'day, Sheila! Ya' may want to step outside for a minute or two-"

"Rat, you can't blow up this place!" Tracer yanked an explosive from his hand as she scolded him. "It's been here for decades!"

"So's my gran, and she's dead,"

Tracer took a breath, composing herself. "I need you to listen to me," when it seemed she had his attention, she continued. "There may be a cure somewhere in this building, and if you blow it up, it'll be lost,"

Junkrat looked perplexed. "But there's nothing in here worth anything! How'd you figure there's a cure in here?"

"Winston went on a medical database and found notes written by the medic who once worked here," Tracer explained, subtly leading Junkrat away from the landing. "In the notes, the medic describes an illness very similar to the outbreak,"

"Ya' mean Black Flu?"

Tracer grimaced. "Is that what they're calling it? Fitting. Anyway, his notes indicate that this disease was actually the cause of some type of chemical- one that was created specifically for an enemy. But they never wound up needing it, and the medic had it discarded. Or, at least, that was what the notes said,"

Junkrat silently took all of this in for about a minute. "So...you're thinkin' someone's poisoning people?"

"Something like that," they were back in the medic's quarters, where Tracer went back to the cabinet. "At the moment, we're looking for a possible antidote, and I'm sure you know why,"

"Yeah," Junkrat muttered, his voice lowering.

Tracer looked through random medical drawings found in the cabinet until she came across a folder. "Ah-ha! Maybe this is it!" She pulled two chairs up to the operating table, where she and Junkrat rooted through the papers.

The folder was full of information on the mercenaries, such as notes, photographs, and even a few journal entries. This obviously wasn't what Tracer was hoping to find, but it gave her the same chilling feeling from before.

"This is...so odd," she remarked after a moment.

"Why?"

Tracer picked up a photo of the medic, staring at him intently. "Because...they're all dead, now. We're just looking through their things like its nothing," she glanced up from the photo, looking around at the room. "This whole place is like a graveyard,"

"Oh," Junkrat continued to go through various photos, oddly quiet all of the sudden. After about a minute, he remarked, "Graveyard...makes sense, now,"

Tracer was barely paying any attention, so she only caught the end of what she said. "Hm?" she inquired, not looking up from the notes.

"I saw a body outside,"

This information slowly sank into Tracer's mind, and she stopped right away. "What!?"

"Outside, in the back," Junkrat gestured behind him. "'Didn't touch it, I don't know if-"

This was all Tracer needed to hear, and she sprang up from her chair in an instant.

She ran behind the base, to where sand dunes had piled up, and sure enough, the body of a young man lay in a heap.

"Shit!" Tracer cursed to herself, running up to the body and kneeling down. Surprisingly, when she felt for a pulse, she discovered that he was not dead, but just unconscious. He didn't seem to respond when she prodded him, so she knew she had to get help.

"Jamison!" she shouted over her shoulder when she heard a door open. "Get the folder, and help me get him somewhere safe!"

Junkrat already had the folder, so he leaned over Tracer to get a better look. "He's not dead?"

"No, he isn't! Rat, why did you just leave him when you found him!?"

"You aren't supposed ta' mess with dead bodies, I thought!"

Tracer knew there was no use in scolding him anymore, so she retrieved the water bottle she had strapped to her belt and unscrewed the top. "Do you have the folder?"

"I do!"

"Great. We'll take it back to headquarters with him," she lifted the boy's head up and poured some of the water on his face, watching as he coughed and opened his eyes slowly. "Hello, there!" Tracer held up her hand. "Can you tell me how many fingers I'm holding up?"

He blinked a few times, and then muttered, "There's...five. W-where is everybody?"

"Who?" She tried to help him sit up. "Who are you looking for?"

"My..." he trailed off, his eyes rolled back, and he slumped back into the sand.

Tracer grabbed his shoulders, lifting him up. "All right, he's in need of medical attention. Come along, Jamison! Quickly!"

As they laid the boy in the back of Tracer's buggy, Junkrat had a sudden thought. He reopened the folder, taking out a picture and holding it up to the boy.

"Huh," he remarked, mostly to himself. "Same face..."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

 _A squirrel scurried across the wooden floor, an acorn stuffed in its mouth. It paused, only for a moment, and then continued to run._

 _Hot on the squirrel's heels, the Scout zoomed down the hall after the rodent, chiding, "You can't run forever! I'll getcha eventually! You gon' learn today!"_

 _The squirrel leaped into a crate beside the Medic's doorway, and Scout slowed to a stop and dropped to his knees, panting while grinning into the crate's peephole. "Aw, done already? Come on, Lil' buddy,"_

 _As Scout peered into the crate, he overheard some conversation from within the next room. He glanced up, listening, his curiosity getting the better of him._

 _"I'd like to get it out of this base as soon as possible," Medic was saying. "We do not need it for the enemy, I have no use for it, and I have concerns over Scout getting into it,"_

 _Scout pouted inwardly. He wasn't a dumb child! Nevertheless, he continued to listen._

 _"Where does it go, then?" Spy responded. "Do you want me to throw it away?"_

 _"No!" Medic nearly barked. "No...let me think. It needs to be in safe hands, where it cannot be misused,"_

Dylan awoke with a start, his eyes twitching as a bright flashlight assaulted them. He made an undignified squawk and tried to get away.

"Oh, no!" a feminine voice above him gasped. "Oh, no, I'm sorry. Don't panic, you're all right,"

She laid his hand on his shoulder, and Dylan's eyes finally adjusted. A beautiful blonde woman leaned over him, her eyes scanning him silently as she removed her hand.

"How are you feeling?" she sat beside him on the cot, smiling at him. "You're lucky they found you in time- you could have ended up with a nasty heat stroke,"

Dylan swallowed, trying to sit up, his mind reeling. "Wait...found me? Where was I?"

"Out in the desert, near that abandoned base," she explained. "I have the belongings you were found with. The people who found you said you were looking for someone?"

"Oh," Dylan tried to remember. "I was?" Weird. The last thing he remembered was leaving the bus stop...

The woman looked at him sympathetically. "You don't remember anything?"

"Well..." he thought about it. "I tried to get on the bus, I had a bus pass, but the driver was sayin' the pass was expired, so I got off. After that, I don't remember,"

"I see," the woman reached down to a cooler beside her feet, pulling out bottled water. "Here, you need to stay hydrated,"

Dylan gratefully sipped at the water, and he finally noticed where he was. He thought he was at a hospital, but it appeared to be a small nurse's office, like at a school. The woman tending to him wasn't even really dressed like a doctor: she had on only a blouse over a pair of yoga pants.

"Hey, uh," Dylan cleared his throat. "Where am I?"

The woman took a breath, looking nervous all of the sudden. "You're in...you're in Overwatch's current base sight. I'm the doctor here, Angela Ziegler, but you may call me Mercy,"

Dylan thought this over. "Wait a minute- Overwatch? Didn't that, like, stop being a thing?"

Mercy wrung her hands, not making eye contact. "It's...complicated, and it's not a concern of yours. Here," she opened a door beside her, revealing a small bathroom. "How about you take a quick shower, and then I can send you on your way, hmm?"

"Sure," he was still very confused by all of this, but what was the use in arguing? Besides, his skin was still sticky with sweat, and a cold shower sounded nice.

It wasn't until he was undressed and standing under the steady stream of water that a realization struck him. What time was it? He turned the water off, pushing back the shower curtain and squinting at a clock on the edge of the sink. It read 4:45.

"God damn it!" he cursed at himself. "Dad's gonna kill me,"

A few minutes later, he'd put his clothes back on and stepped out of the bathroom, seeing that Mercy had laid all the belongings he'd come with on the bed. Mercy herself stood by the bed, a slip of paper clutched in her hand.

"Here," she handed the slip to Dylan when he approached. "A bus pass with the correct date, so you can get home,"

Dylan felt himself cringe on the inside. Yes, home: where his father would no doubt tear him to shreds for missing a job interview. Nevertheless, he took the pass. "Thanks. What's the way out of here?"

Mercy pointed to the door behind her. "Through there, into the lobby, and then you should see the front doors. Take care!"

The lobby echoed back Dylan's footsteps as he walked through it, pausing at the foot of a winding staircase for a brief moment. He could hear some faint music playing on the floor above, and he swore he could hear some people talking. He wondered what it was like to work here, or what they were even doing.

As he stepped out of the building, he was just about to take out his phone to access his GPS when a voice to the right of him changed everything.

"There he is!"

Dylan turned his head in confusion, only to have a man he'd never seen before run right up to him and tackle him. Dylan yelped, squirming and trying to push the stranger off. "What the Hell!? Who are you!?"

Two more people, a young woman and a young man, both ran into the scene and pried the attacker off.

"Junkrat, what is wrong with you!?" she grabbed him by the shoulders and whirled him around to look at her. "You scared him!"

Dylan sat up, gasping, scrambling to escape when the other man knelt beside him and helped him up. "Are you okay?" the other man wanted to know. "I'm sorry, he's just excited,"

"Jesus Christ," Dylan wheezed under his breath, struggling to his feet. "What was that!?"

Junkrat looked rather indignant. "Why, listen here, boyo- I saved your life out there! How's 'bout you show me show respect?"

Dylan paused, his brows furrowing. "Wait, you were the one who found me?"

"One of the two, he means. You really have Tracer to thank," the girl corrected, reaching out and shaking Dylan's hand. "I'm Hana,"

"Hi-" Upon seeing her face, he figured out who she was. "Hey! I know you!"

Hana just smiled knowingly, tilting her head to the side. "Do you?"

"Yeah! You-you're that streamer girl- DVa!" he dug through his shoulder bag, retrieving a small notebook. "Would ya mind...?"

"Not at all!" Hana grinned, pulling out a pen and scribbling down her signature. As she whisked the pen back into her pocket, she gestured to the other young man. "This is Lucio,"

Lucio exchanged a handshake with Dylan as well, asking again, "Are you okay? They were saying you had a heat stroke!"

"Well, I didn't! Look at me," Dylan outstretched his arms, waving them. "I'm alive, ain't I?"

"Yeah, you're alive!" Junkrat popped back in. "Hadn't been for me, you'd be roasting in your own piss!"

Hana wrinkled her nose. "Oh, will you stop that? Tracer said you thought he was dead!"

This was the second time that name had been mentioned, and Dylan had to ask, "Who's Tracer?"

"She's one of our teammates," Hana responded. "And she saved your sorry butt from heat stroke! She's not here right now, though- she's out training,"

Junkrat nudged Lucio with his arm, and when he had his attention, he showed him the photograph. Lucio took the picture, holding it up and squinting at Dylan. "You're right, Jamison," he remarked. "They really do look alike!"

Dylan looked over, confused. "Huh?"

"Ooh!" Hana seemed excited all of the sudden. "Let me see!" Lucio passed the picture to Hana, who stared down at it and then back at Dylan. "You wanna see?"

"Sure...?" Dylan took the photo in his hands, and he felt himself jump. "That-that's me! Except...it isn't! Who is this?"

"The Scout, from the base where we found ya!" Junkrat waved his hands in excitement. "He's been dead for a long time, o'course, but-"

Lucio cut in, rather excited. "We think you could be him!"

Dylan paused, feeling seriously confused. "Wait, what?"

"Come on," Hana took his arm, leading him to some furniture nearby where she motioned for him to sit in a chair. "This is gonna take a lot of explaining, but this is too weird to be a coincidence,"

Once the four of them were gathered around, Hana began. "We have this...theory, that in a past life, you _were_ this guy," she held up the picture of the Scout again. "Now, this guy knew another guy at the same base who knew something very important,"

Dylan crossed his arms, thinking this over. "...and what was that?"

"The cure for Black Flu!" Junkrat chimed in, looking ecstatic.

"What!?" Dylan's eyes widened. "Black Flu? You mean, that thing on the news that no one will shut up about?"

"Yeah," Lucio nodded. "But we found something that said it might be a poison and not an illness,"

This only made Dylan feel more confused, so he tried to go over what he'd heard. "So...you think that, in a past life, I was a dude who knew another dude who knew the cure for the flu, but it wasn't the flu at all, and it was a poison, and now people are being poisoned? And, somehow, I can do something about this?"

"Uh...yeah?" Hana tried to smile and cleared her throat. "It sounds crazy, I know, but..." she pushed the photograph towards Dylan. "Have you ever considered it?"

Dylan was about to say how ridiculous all of this was and just walk away, ready to face the wrath of his father, but as he looked at the photo again, a strange feeling stirred within him. In the picture, the Scout posed with a squirrel in his hands, and Dylan suddenly remembered what he had dreamt before Mercy had woken him up. There was a fluttering in his chest, and it was one he couldn't ignore.

"It's not so crazy, I guess," he straightened up, brushing his hair back. "I mean, I've heard a ton of stories about past lives, and they sound real,"

"Oh, yeah!" Junkrat piped up. "Tell ya what: I knew a chick back in Junkertown, was terrified of birds her whole life and had no clue why! She went to a healer, and turns out she had her eyes pecked out in her past life!"

Lucio made an audible noise of disgust. "Ew, why'd you have to say that?"

Dylan stared back down at the photo, and he wondered, "But how will I remember everything, or at least what's important?"

A silence fell over them. Both Lucio and Hana looked to Junkrat, who was just as stumped as them. It was clear he hadn't thought this far.

"Ah-ha!" Lucio exclaimed after a few seconds. "I know! We can take him to Zenyatta. I've heard him talk about reincarnation before,"

"No way!" Junkrat snapped. "No way we're taking him to that self-righteous hunk of metal!"

Hana looked offended. "Rat, why do you hate Zenyatta so much? He's literally never done anything to you!" she huffed and turned back to Dylan. "I can take you to him. He'll probably know what to do,"

A few minutes later, Hana led Dylan through the hills behind the building, where Dylan stopped for a moment to look back.

"What is this place, anyway?" he wanted to know. "The doctor said it was a base,"

"Yeah, pretty much," Hana shrugged. "It's more like a big office, but there are also apartments. We've been living here for the past few months, just so we can take care of something,"

"Take care of what?"

Hana started to say something but thought better of herself. "That's, uh, something I don't think I'm allowed to tell you," she tugged on his arm. "This way,"

She led him to what appeared to be a small shed, decorated in old glass bottles and various lawn ornaments. "Zenyatta's been staying here for now," Hana explained as she knocked on the door. "Hey! You in?"

"Wait right there!" a voice called from within. There was a clicking sound, and the door swung open. An omnic stood before them, and he cheerfully greeted Hana. "Hello, Hana. How are you today?"

"I'm fine today," she responded, and she gestured to Dylan. "This is the guy Tracer and Junkrat found in the desert earlier today. Remember?"

Zenyatta turned his attention to Dylan, watching him curiously. "Ah, yes. And are you feeling better?"

"Uh," Dylan tried to speak. He was from an area where omnics weren't common, so he'd never been this close to one before. "Yeah, I'm better,"

"Good," Zenyatta opened the door wider, motioning for his guests to come in. "Tell me- what brings you here?"

Dylan removed the picture from his pocket, taking a breath. "Well, this is gonna sound kinda weird..."

Both Hana and Dylan explained the situation to Zenyatta, who just listened silently, never making a comment or asking a question. Once they'd finished, Zenyatta folded his metallic hands across his lap and thought for a few seconds.

"Hana," he spoke. "I'm going to need you to step outside for a while. I'll need to be alone with Dylan, here,"

Hana and Dylan exchanged a brief glance as Hana stood up, making her way to the door. Once the door had been closed, Zenyatta laid out a long yoga mat.

"Lay down," he commanded, pointing to the mat.

Dylan hesitated, then obeyed. He lay on his back as Zenyatta laid a cloth over his eyes, blocking out his vision.

This worried Dylan greatly. "Y-you ain't gonna put something nasty in my mouth, are ya?"

"No!" Zenyatta seemed almost offended that he would ask such a thing. "Relax, everything's fine,"

Dylan tried to loosen his body, but he still felt tense. "I-I can't,"

"Yes, you can," Dylan jumped as he felt Zenyatta touching his shoulders and squeezing them. "Take a deep breath- that should help you,"

It really did seem to help, and Dylan soon felt his muscles softening. He heard Zenyatta's voice right above him. "Good. Now, clear your mind of any distractions, and we'll begin,"

Dylan's vision was complete blackness as Zenyatta's voice cut through the air. "Your mind will travel to your past life. What do you see?"

A building appeared in the darkness, and it was the old base. Yet, it was new, and it felt so familiar. "T-the base. No!" Dylan corrected himself. "The fort,"

"Go inside," Zenyatta commanded gently. "What's there?"

His heart pounding, Dylan stepped in through an open garage door, scanning the scenery. "Machines, and some weapons,"

"Keep going,"

Dylan continued to walk around, stepping through a hallway and stopping by something hanging on the wall. "There's...there's a mirror,"

"Look at yourself," Zenyatta's voice cut back in. "Look at your reflection and tell me who you are,"

Dylan turned towards the mirror, his hands shaking as he stared at his own face. He looked the same, only he wore a baseball cap and a red shirt with a tag hanging around his slender neck. He tried to speak, but he couldn't seem to force any words out. Finally, he squeaked out one word: _"Scout!"_

Instantly, the floor below him seemed to swallow him, and he fell into blackness. His dream, the one from earlier, continued.

 _"No..._ _let me think. It needs to be in safe hands, where it cannot be misused,"_

 _The squirrel chattered within the crate, and Scout scooped him up in his hands while listening._

 _"I know!" Medic exclaimed finally. "Mail it to the CDC's headquarters. They can safely dispose of it there,"_

 _"Fair enough," Spy cleared his throat, and the sound of his lighter clicked. He was lighting another cigarette. "What should I tell them?"_

 _Medic rummaged around in his desk, answering, "I have a note here you can deliver with the samples. It explains what this chemical is and what it does. All you must do is mail it to the CDC. Understood?"_

 _"Sounds easy," Spy stood up, accepting the box of samples. "I'll return shortly,"_

 _"Danke," Medic muttered as Spy left the room._

 _Spy had the box of samples clutched in his hands when he noticed Scout standing there. He nearly dropped the box. "Augh! How dare you startle me, you idiot!"_

 _"Not my fault!" Scout chirped right back._

Everything went black again. His consciousness returned, and he slowly pulled the dark cloth away from his eyes, sitting up.

Zenyatta sat across from him, his legs folded. "Well? Did you see what you were hoping to see?"

"Y-yeah..." his thoughts washed over him, and he felt a smile come to his face. "Yeah! Oh, my God, this is great!" he couldn't stop himself from throwing his arms around Zenyatta. "Thanks a ton!"

Zenyatta couldn't help but chuckle. "Why, you're welcome, Dylan,"

"Dylan?" the boy scoffed. "I don't wanna be called that anymore! From now on, the name's Scout,"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

The evening wind blew against Scout's skin as he headed back down the hill. He paused for a moment, seeing Hana and Lucio standing a few feet away while talking, and he ran right up to them.

"Boo!" he exclaimed as he jumped behind Hana, and she startled.

"Oh!" Hana turned around, looking annoyed, but her expression changed when she saw who it was. "Well? Did it work?"

Scout winked at her, giving a thumbs-up. "You betcha! Guess who's back in business?"

Hana gasped excitedly, leaping up and high-fiving him. "Oh, my gosh! You remember- that's so great!"

Lucio exchanged a high-five with Scout as well, but he looked somewhat puzzled. "So, you're just...him, now?"

"Uh, yeah!" Scout scoffed. "If I'm gonna be honest, I'd rather be this guy over Dylan any day. Dylan? Dylan, who? His life was borin' as hell! He had no job, nothin' to prove, and he got no girls. But the Scout?" He smirked at Hana, leaning towards her. "Well...he's a different story,"

Hana's brows lifted, a look of amusement written across her fine features. "Oh, my God, are you hitting on me?" she pressed a hand to his chest and pushed him back a bit, snickering. "Thanks, but no thanks!"

"Aw, come on!" Scout persisted. "Ya' sure? After we're done here, we can-"

Lucio cut in, changing the subject. "Hey, so what did you remember about Black Flu?"

"Wh-" Scout stopped. "Oh! Yeah! Okay, so listen-" he took a breath. "The, umm...the stuff- it was in jars, and Medic didn't need it, so he had it mailed to...uhh," he winced at the memory. "The...see-dee-see, I think. CDC! That's where he had it mailed to,"

"CDC..." Hana repeated, touching her index finger to her bottom lip in thought. "I know that name, it stands for something,"

"Isn't it 'Center for Disease Control'?" Lucio mused aloud.

Scout perked up. "Yeah! That's it! Medic gave it to them so they could destroy it. He wrote a note to go with it, too,"

"Wait!" Lucio exclaimed, the tone of his voice making the other two startle. "The CDC! They run that database where Winston found the paper on the Black Flu poison!"

Hana blinked, her mouth falling open in realization. "Then, that means...the paper must be the note your Medic wrote!"

"Come on!" Lucio took Scout's arm, tugging him in the direction of the base. "We have to tell Winston!"

Everything suddenly seemed very overwhelming. Not only had Scout just received a good chunk of memories from his former life, now he was involved in some type of conspiracy. Or was it even a conspiracy? Was it a coincidence? He had another thought: if he was here, in a new life, was the rest of his team out there somewhere?

He tried to shake these feelings away as he followed his new companions to their base.

Within the base, there was an area known to the members as the Computer Lab. It wasn't really a 'lab' at all, though, more of a hallway with computers lined up against the wall. It was a quiet, nice place to work, despite the awkward location.

At the moment, Winston wasn't there to use the computers for anything. He preferred to do work on his own private computer, but today was different. The lab computers needed to be updated, and he'd put off the update for quite some time as he knew it would take much longer than he would like.

Now, he sat in a computer chair, watching the timers run on each computer. The update had only ten minutes left, though it felt like an eternity. What made everything less painstaking, though, was that he wasn't by himself this time. Tracer and Mei had wandered in, waiting to use the computers, and stayed to chat for a bit.

"Did you hear that Adel Heinz is about to be executed soon?" Mei remarked, scrolling through her phone.

"He is, is he?" Tracer sighed, sipping on her can of ginger ale. "Serves him right, I guess. That's what happens when someone kills their family for no reason," she turned to look at Winston. "Do you believe in the death penalty?"

Winston didn't look away from the timer. "Death penalty? Ah...no, I don't,"

"Really?" Mei sounded surprised. "Even for someone like Adel Heinz?"

"Mei, Adel Heinz is mentally disturbed," Winston glanced at her briefly before looking back at the screen. "He needs a doctor, not death,"

Tracer tried to argue. "Yes, but it was still murder!"

Winston turned around in the chair and started to say something, but the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs stopped him.

"There you are!" Hana announced when she saw Winston. "Hey, we gotta talk to you,"

"About what-" Winston halted when he saw a young man he'd never seen before standing there. "Uh- who is this?"

Scout stared at Winston in pure confusion before stating, "I don't mean'ta alarm ya, but you're a gorilla,"

Winston feigned a dramatic gasp. "What!? I am!? Oh, good God, I had no idea!" he snorted, shaking his head. "Seriously, who are you?"

"Hey!" Tracer sat up, climbing out of her seat. "Oh, my gosh, you're the bloke I found in the desert!"

"I thought Angela sent him home," Mei murmured, mostly to herself as she stared at Scout.

"Are you the gal who saved me?" Scout found himself looking Tracer up and down as she went to shake his hand. "Thanks, I owe ya one! Jeez, you're cute, too,"

Tracer felt her smile falter. _Oh, boy,_ she thought to herself. _Is this the way it's going to be?_

She pretended she hadn't heard the last part. "Please, I would have done it for anyone. No one else was around but me and Jamison,"

"Yeah," Scout continued, hooking a finger absent-mindedly through a belt hook on his jeans. "Almost like...fate, or whatever,"

Behind him, Hana leaned over to Lucio and whispered, "Do we tell him, or...?"

Winston cut in before the awkwardness could continue. "Hi! Nobody's answering me: who are you?"

"I," Scout began, lifting his head proudly and pretending he wasn't horribly overwhelmed. "Am the guy who's gonna help cure Black Flu! See, you found a paper written by a medic, and I knew him! The name's Scout,"

Winston stared at Scout for what felt like a whole minute before he finally responded. "...Really?"

"Yep!"

"All right, then," Winston crossed his arms. "Tell me, Scout- how did you 'know' the author of that document if he died several decades ago?"

Scout had already mentally prepared an answer. "I knew him in a past life! We worked together, he was our Medic. Dunno where he is now, but-"

"For crying out loud," Winston groaned, covering his face. "I-I'm sorry, I really don't mean to sound rude, but...past lives? Are you...? Actually, you know what?" he did a sort of 'go-on' gesture with his hand. "Humor me. Tell me: what do you know about the Black Flu chemical? What did your Medic tell you?"

"Well, uh..." the impending anxiety started to wash over Scout. He became very aware of his situation: a gorilla was staring him down with a look that seemed to be drilling a hole in his head. When Scout had left for a job interview that morning, this certainly wasn't the predicament he'd expected to find himself in. But, no, no- Dylan was the one being anxious. Dylan would turn and leave and forget about all this. Scout was different. "Medic didn't tell me anything. He gave the samples to our Spy, who put it in the mail. I'm pretty sure what you read was the note that went with it,"

"That really doesn't help-" Winston began, but Hana cut him off.

"No, no!" Hana insisted. "The Spy mailed it to the CDC!"

This got Winston's attention. "CDC? As in- Center for Disease Control?"

Scout nodded. "Yeah, Medic mailed it to them to have it destroyed,"

Winston thought this over, and he gave Scout a somewhat suspicious look. A nearby computer made a 'ping' sound, indicating it was done with the update.

"Hang on for a second," Winston turned to the computer, logging in. "Let me pull up that document from the database,"

He tapped some keys for a few minutes, clicked on something, and then muttered, "We'll just see-" he froze, his expression changing. "What!? Are you kidding me?"

Tracer leaned over his shoulder, glancing at the screen. "What's wrong?"

"The document's gone!" Winston's voice was full of disbelief. "But- I don't understand! It was here a few hours ago,"

Within seconds, everyone else was crowded around the computer and offering suggestions.

"Try refreshing the page," Lucio suggested. "Maybe it's just not loading,"

"Did you click the right link?" Hana asked.

Winston was growing more and more panicked. "Of course it was the right link- I had it saved from earlier!"

"Don't get upset," Mei tried to keep him calm. She pointed to some text at the bottom of the screen. "What does that say?"

In the document's place was a short note. It went like this:

 _Attention, readers,_

 _This original document has been removed by our editors for presenting incorrect information. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused._

 _Sincerely,_

 _The officials at the Center for Disease Control._

"Wow," Scout whistled. "Now I know somethin's up,"

Winston turned around, his eyes resting on Scout. "This is ridiculous, but I'm willing to give it a chance," Winston spoke with a very slow and deliberate voice. "If you're really the Scout who worked with that Medic, we need to know if you have any idea who he could be in this life. Have you met him? Have you met anyone who looks like him, or even remotely reminds you of him? Try to think,"

Scout pressed a hand to his chin in thought. "No," he admitted after a moment. "I'm sorry, I haven't met him,"

"What about the Spy who mailed the samples?" Hana piped up. "Do you know him?"

"I don't-" Scout paused. "Wait...aw, shit!" he began pacing while chewing on his lip. "Shit, shit shit, yes, I do. Oh, God, and not only him, either," he flopped down in a computer chair, spinning himself around a little. "God dammit...at least three guys I worked with then are in my life, now. They've been here the whole time. God dammit..."

Mei hesitated, and then reached out to touch his shoulder with her fingertips. "Are you...is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Scout stood up, barely giving Mei a glance before reaching for his phone. "I gotta make a phone call, where can I...?"

"Down there," Lucio gestured down the hallway.

"Thanks," Scout murmured, turning away and beginning to dial a number.

A familiar clunking sound radiated from the staircase, and none other than Junkrat leaped from the stairs and onto the floor.

"Are the computers working?" he wanted to know in a very loud voice, only to be shushed by Mei. "I was just-!" he noticed Scout standing several feet away, and he started to ask, "Did it work?" but he got shushed again.

"You're so loud!" Mei hissed.

Junkrat scowled and acted like he was about to argue, but Hana tapped his shoulder. "Hey, Jamie! This computer's working," she logged in for him and pulled up a game. This seemed to distract him for the moment, or just long enough for him not to interrupt Scout's phone conversation.

The ringing sound jingled against Scout's ear as he chewed on his lip and paced around. "C'mon, dad, pick up,"

There was a click, and then, "Hello, Dylan," he sounded oddly calm.

"Hey, dad," Scout tried to sound under control. "Listen, we need to talk,"

"Yes, we do," his father agreed. "How was your job interview?"

Scout tried to think of a believable answer. "It, uh, it went pretty good, I guess-"

"Stop lying!" his father snapped. "The employer called me. He said you never showed!"

"Yeah, but that's because-"

"Oh, I don't want any excuses! You're too old to keep living under my roof anymore, Dylan,"

Scout felt himself heat up, and he clenched his fist. "Oh, yeah? Why don't ya tell that to John and Ferguson? Also- I ain't going by Dylan anymore,"

"What!?" the man almost spat over the phone. "Are you high, mon fils?! Where are you!?"

"Why don't ya come get me using that little trackin' app of yours?" Scout teased. "I know you still use that app to keep me reigned in. Does it ever occur to you that maybe I'll act like an adult when ya start treatin' me like one!? No, of course, it doesn't, _Spy!"_

Scout ignored his father's French insults as he hung up and shoved his phone back into his pocket. He turned around briskly, walking back to the others.

"So, Spy's my dad, and he's probably comin' to get me," Scout began, crossing his arms tightly across his chest. "Until then, I'm gonna stick around a while. I hope ya don't mind..."

"I'm sorry, but I do mind," Winston sounded agitated. "We would all feel a lot better if you found somewhere else to stay for a bit-"

Tracer broke in. "No, no, he can stay for awhile! After all, Winston, this wouldn't be the first time we let strangers stay here," when Winston gave her a quizzical look, she made a slight gesture towards Junkrat. Junkrat didn't seem to notice, as he was too involved with the computer game he was playing.

Winston drummed his fingers against the table, thinking, and he rose up. "All right, fine. Do what you need to do, I'm going back to my office to get some things done,"

"Isn't our team dinner tonight?" Lucio called after him as he headed for the stairs.

"No, it's tomorrow night," he answered back. "I changed it, remember?"

When Winston had gone, Scout flopped into one of the chairs. "What's his deal, anyway?"

"He's just been stressed lately," Tracer assured. "A lot's been happening, he's a little punchy," she changed the subject. "Are you sure you want to stay here? There's a motel not too far away, I could drop you off-"

"Nah," Scout waved her off. "I'll hang out here," he turned his head to watch Junkrat play the computer game. It appeared to be some very old, first-person shooter game.

"All right, then," Tracer sat at a nearby computer and logged in. "I'm just gonna be working, don't mind me,"

Scout watched the screen for a few more seconds, and he turned to smirk at Tracer. "Working, huh? Is that code for 'playing minesweeper'?"

A little snicker escaped Tracer. "How'd you know?"

Further away, Mei punched in a few numbers on the vending machine as Hana approached her.

"I hope he doesn't keep hitting on Tracer," Hana remarked in a hushed voice as she leaned against the wall. "He's gonna be pretty embarrassed when he learns he was flirting with a lesbian,"

"Mm," was all Mei responded with, retrieving her can of soda. "He'll find someone, I'm sure. He's very cute, even though he is kind of annoying,"

Hana gaped at Mei, and she turned to glance at Scout. "Oh, my God, Mei. Is that someone gonna be you?"

"Stop!" hissed Mei, playfully shoving Hana's arm as she giggled.

* * *

 **A/N: Hi, everyone! I hope you've been enjoying this so far, I've worked pretty hard on it. The response has been pretty good so far, so thank you all for favoriting/following this story and reviewing it!**

 **Sorry if this chapter seemed a bit uneventful, but this is just a set-up for stuff that happens later. I'm also getting sick...damn seasonal allergies.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you stick around for the next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

The sky transitioned to a shade of pink as John knelt down to get the grill ready.

There were faster, easier ways to prepare grills these days, but John preferred it like this. It was the way his father had taught him back in Australia, back before his life was flipped on its head...

He shuddered. It was best not to think about that.

As a fire finally got going, the back porch's door slammed behind him, and he knew who it was without even turning around.

"I'm makin' dinner, Rene," he explained before his roommate could say anything. "It's grilled salmon. For us, anyway- Fergus wants chicken,"

Rene inhaled from his vape pen and exhaled a cloud of vapor. "Sounds wonderful, but I'm afraid you'll have to save it for another night. We are going out,"

That was new. John turned his head, surprised. "Since when do you want to eat out?"

"Since Dylan thought it was cute to mess with me," Rene answered, his voice thick. "My son skipped his job interview and is generally being a nuisance, so naturally, I have to kill him. Not in the literal sense, of course, but-"

"For God's sake, Rene!" John groaned, standing up. "The kid's 24! When will you let him be a man?"

"When he starts acting like one," Rene puffed on his vapor pen again. "The boy can barely tie a tie, John. I'm going to get him, and you're coming with me. I've already talked Ferguson into going,"

John stood there with the lighter in his hand, trying to make sense of all this. "But...how do you even know where he is?"

"I still have that Phone-Finder app," Rene explained. "That's how we're going to find him,"

"We?" John repeated, baffled. "Christ, Rene, you can't keep doin' this-"

Rene ignored him and headed for the door. "He couldn't have gotten too far. Come along, John,"

The door slammed shut, and John let out a heavy sigh. "Ugh, why?" he shut the grill off and began putting the materials away.

It was 6:30 PM, although Scout barely seemed to notice that any time had passed.

He honestly thought he'd never been happier, hanging out with these new friends of his. He had other friends back home, of course, but they weren't anything like this. His other friends seemed to like him, yet they constantly made plans without him or they just simply never included him in things. These people were different so far- he'd played a few rounds of different computer games with them, but now they were just chatting, and nobody was talking over him or ignoring what he had to say. It was a type of euphoria he'd never felt until this moment.

"And then," Scout went on with his story, his hands jerking with emphasis. "She pointed her long, bony finger in my face and told me I had no future in graphic design-"

"No!" gasped Lucio, horrified.

"Yeah, yeah!" Scout clapped his hands together as he continued. "And then she took the vegan tacos and threw them everywhere!"

"Oh, my God!" Junkrat exclaimed. "You should'a shot her!"

Scout snorted. "I wish! My dad would'a flipped if I shot my piano teacher-"

"Did you ever go back there?" Tracer inquired. "She sounds dreadful!"

"Yeah, I had to get my shoes back later," Scout answered. "That's another story. Anyway, my foot's totally stuck in there, right? She's screamin' at me and the dog's havin' a seizure and I've still got half a tin of beans left-" his phone started vibrating, and he paused. "Hello, what's this?" he dug around in his pocket and retrieved it, only to stop and squint at the screen. "What the-? Agh, of course,"

"What's wrong?" Mei asked.

Scout turned his phone's screen to the others. "Ya see that?"

Lucio leaned forward and squinted. "'Find-a-Phone is tracking your location'," he read off the screen. "Isn't that the app people use to find lost phones?"

"Sure is!" Scout did a sarcastic laugh. "Means my dad is lookin' for me,"

"Aren't you an adult?" Tracer sounded concerned. "My father had an app like that for me when I was ten,"

Scout shrugged. "Yeah, well, my dad is convinced I'll end up dead in a ditch somewhere that he just had to get this app,"

"Well, at least he cares, I guess," Hana looked at her phone, and an expression of surprise crossed her face. "Oh! Wow, it's late. I had no clue,"

"Yeah, and our team dinner's not 'till tomorrow night," Lucio's eyes wandered to the ceiling in thought. "You guys wanna go out?"

"Better not be that fancy place again!" Junkrat piped up, making a face. "I hated it there,"

"I know, everyone did," Lucio assured. "We wouldn't go there,"

Junkrat scratched some dandruff out of his hair. "Good! All that money, an' those people eat snails..."

It was settled within a few minutes: after a bit of preparation, they would all meet up in the lobby and then head downtown to the sports bar they usually went to. Scout was surprised when they invited him along, and he gladly accepted the offer. In the meantime, though, he had to use the bathroom, so Junkrat offered to let him hang out in his room for a while to do so.

The minute Scout entered the room, he first noticed the cloud of intense heat he'd walked into, and then took a look at the room itself.

"Oh, my..." Scout was truly at a loss for words. This place was only a few items of stray clothing away from looking like a room on that show about hoarders...

Junkrat made a face as he walked in. "Why's it so stiflin' in here!?" he noticed the thermostat and leaned in to look at it, squinting. "Why's this all the way up!? So sorry,"

Scout's mouth was still agape as he examined the room, noticing a pile of boxes resting on the table along with a bowl of cereal from who knows when. "Shit...Jesus, dude, you live like this?"

"Hmm?" Junkrat glanced away from the thermostat. "Yeah, my best mate and I moved here not too long ago. Haven't had time to clean up, yeh?" he gestured to the door next to him. "Bathroom's right here,"

"Thanks," Scout hesitated before entering the bathroom, praying silently that it wasn't as bad as the rest of the place.

On the other side of the wall, Junkrat made his way to his own bed, where he retrieved a denim vest hanging from the wall.

"You going out?" Roadhog asked from the bed next to him.

"Yeh," Junkrat buttoned up the vest, looking up at the TV on the wall. "Watcha' watching? Opera again?"

Roadhog didn't look up from what he was doing on his lap desk. "Not really watching it. You know, it's background noise,"

"Oh," Junkrat fished out a bejeweled shoelace, which he tied around his neck like a choker. "Well, I'm goin' to dinner with our friends and a new guy. Should be fun, you comin'?"

"No, I don't think so," Roadhog replied, stopping to sharpen his pencil with a hand-held sharpener. "They're your friends, not mine. Besides, there are still leftovers in the fridge. I thought I'd eat those,"

Junkrat picked up a cracked mirror and checked himself out in it, adjusting the choker. "You could join us next time-"

He was cut off when a horrible, wheezing cough erupted from Roadhog. Junkrat turned around, concerned. "Oi! Ya good, Roadie?"

Roadhog's only response was more coughing, and he soon started pointing to something at the foot of his bed. He was asking for his mask, so Junkrat fetched it for him and began fastening it to the older man's face.

"There we go," Junkrat tried to sound soothing, though he couldn't change his tone that well. He clicked the mask into place, and Roadhog took several deep breaths. "That's better, ain't it? There, you can go back to drawin',"

The coughing had halted for the moment, and Roadhog gave a shaky, relieved sigh. "Thank you, Jamison,"

"Don't mention it," Junkrat kept his hand on Roadhog's shoulder, gently tracing the little black markings on his skin. "Stupid Black Flu. We're gonna fix you up soon enough, I promise,"

"Let's not promise things we might not be able to keep," Roadhog mumbled back.

Scout had wandered into the doorway, where he'd stopped and was watching with concern. "Everything okay in here?"

Junkrat cleared his throat, fetching the mirror. "Yeah! Yeah, it's all good. Have you met Roadhog yet?"

"Oh, no, I haven't," Scout tried to smile and waved a little. "Hiya!"

Roadhog made eye-contact with him for a few seconds before going back to his lap desk. "Hi,"

"Agh!" Junkrat made an annoyed sound as he looked at his eyebrows. "I gotta comb 'em! Wait here, I'll only be a tick,"

He disappeared into the bathroom, leaving Scout with Roadhog. Roadhog didn't acknowledge his presence, which Scout would have been fine with if it wasn't for the fact that this type of silence made him anxious. He tried to start a conversation.

"Hey, uh, what are ya workin' on, buddy?" Scout took a few tentative steps forward, trying to look at the lap desk.

Roadhog paused, and then he silently pushed part of the paper over so Scout could see. It was a drawing of a raven eating a severed hand, and it was quite detailed, too. Scout studied it for a moment. "Wow. That's tight, dude,"

"Thanks," Roadhog went back to adding details to the tendons.

Scout then noticed a small bulletin board hanging above the bed, with had several more drawings pinned to it. Many of them were violent or creepy, containing severed body parts and almost always a type of animal eating them. Yet, there were a few drawings that stood out from all of them, and they were a stark contrast to the creepiness: these drawings were of young children doing various activities. In fact, the more Scout looked at them, the more he realized that it was the same child, a young girl with dark hair. One drawing showed her washing some dolls in a washtub, while another showed her offering an ice cream cone to a dog. A very detailed one depicted her dancing in a flowerbed, and the words, _"Lottie dancing in the yard,"_ were written across the top.

The bathroom door flung open, and Junkrat came waltzing in. "All right, bucko! Ready to go?"

"Uh, yeah," Scout took a moment to smooth his hair back while getting a look at himself in the cracked mirror. "Sure, let's go,"

"See ya, Roadie!" Junkrat called out as they left. "I'll bring ya back somethin'!"

The door slammed, and Roadhog was alone. He turned to the bulletin board, fishing around for a pin and pinning his latest drawing to the board. He noticed the picture of Lottie dancing in the flowers, and he gently brushed his thumb against the pencil lines.

7:15 PM.

A car pulled up to the bar and restaurant known as Olive Angel, and after parking, Rene stepped out of the driver's side and inhaled from his vape pen.

"You don't think this might be goin' a bit too far?" Ferguson inquired warily as he stepped out. "How d'ya know the lad even wants to see ya?"

"We talked on the phone, he's expecting me," Rene sighed, exhaling some vapor. "Supposedly, he's in here, so I can talk to him while you get something,"

John cringed a little as he followed the other two men inside the building. "I still don't like this idea, Rene,"

"Then stay quiet," Rene told him.

Upon entering Olive Angel, Rene noticed his son almost right away, sitting towards the back. He watched from afar and scanned the situation silently.

"All right, he's made friends, Rene," John tried to reassure. "He's fine, he's- Rene!"

Scout was in the middle of trying to make Tracer laugh by placing an onion ring on his finger when he happened to make eye contact with a familiar face. He took a breath. "Here he comes," Scout took the onion ring off his finger and stood up. "Be right back,"

As Scout walked away, Mei sat up taller and watched him go. "Is that his dad over there?"

"Think so," Tracer remarked, watching with some concern. "Scary-looking fellow..."

Scout had his hands shoved in his pockets as he stepped forward and confronted his father. "Hey, Spy,"

Rene's eye twitched. "Why do you keep calling me that? Is that some kind of a veiled insult?"

"Nah, it's the truth,"

"All right, then," Rene kept his arms folded across his chest. "Care to explain to me why you missed the job interview?"

Scout snorted. "Oh, I dunno...maybe it had somethin' to do with you givin' me the wrong bus pass!" he shoved the pass in his father's face. "The rejected me 'cause the date was wrong!"

"Oh, don't be-" Rene paused when he noticed the date. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah!" Scout didn't break his angry glare. "And you wanna know what happened after that!? I passed out, Dad!" Scout flailed his arms for emphasis. "I passed out in the desert! I coulda died!"

Rene only shook his head, trying to compose himself. "Dylan, Dylan- calm down!" he sighed. "Dylan, I apologize for giving you the wrong pass. You should have called me and told me,"

"How do I know ya wouldn't tear my head off if I did!?"

"Hey, Dylan," John stepped in, putting a hand on Dylan's shoulder. "Settle down, boy. Your father came all the way out here to find you,"

Scout just pursed his lips together. "Yeah, 'cause he's crazy,"

"Oh, hush," Rene hissed. "You asked me to come here,"

"I sure did! You wanna know why? You ain't gonna believe me, but it's true,"

Rene squinted at something over his son's shoulder. "Does it have anything to do with those friends of yours?"

Scout turned around. His new friends were all watching the scene silently, except for Hana, who was playing a game on her phone, and Junkrat, who was sticking his fingers in nacho cheese sauce.

"Kinda!" Scout puffed out his chest. "I'm helpin' them solve a mystery!"

Rene could only watch as Junkrat stuck each finger in the cheese. "...I'm sure you are, son,"

"So screw the job interview!" Scout exclaimed. "This is gonna be my job, now!"

Lucio overheard that bit from the table. "Aw, no," he winced. "Don't say that!"

Rene suddenly reached out and grabbed the collar of Scout's shirt, dragging him out the door. "Home! Now! I have had enough of your nonsense!"

"Rene, stop that!" John pursued them, picking up the pace. "Rene- Rene!"

"Let go!" Scout pushed his father off of him, glaring. "You ain't even listenin' to me!"

"I've heard all I want to hear!" Rene snapped. "You've lost it, boy. I'll tell you what we're going to do- we're going home, we're going to forget this ever happened, and you're going to get a damn job! Do you hear me?"

They were outside, now, staring each other down in the cool, evening air. Scout's fists were clenched so tight he was sure his nails would break the skin. "Dad, it's my turn to talk and your turn to listen. Can ya do that for one freaking second?"

Rene turned away and put his hands up. "You know what? Fine! Pal around with strangers and solve mysteries, see if I care! It worked for Scooby Doo, didn't it? Garçon stupide,"

"Dad, wait-" Scout grabbed his father's arm. "No, don't leave. Please, I need you for something important,"

"And what would that be?"

Scout took a deep breath. "It's about Black Flu-"

The door opened, and John was there in an instant. He placed an arm around Scout and turned to stare defiantly at Rene. "You know what, Rene? I'm tired of this. I'm tired of you talking to your son this way,"

Rene tried to interject, but John talked over him. "You're an adult, Rene, and so is Dylan,"

There was a long pause, and Rene fished around in his pockets. "Here, John," he placed his car keys in John's hand. "I need you to drive home,"

John looked puzzled. "What? Why?"

"I need you to get our toothbrushes, some clothes, extra cash, and anything else we may need," Rene answered. "We're going to be staying here a while,"

Scout's mouth fell open. "What?"

Rene went on. "We'll stay at a hotel here for as long as we need until I can help you reschedule another interview. You may visit with your friends, solve mysteries, or do whatever you need to while we stay, just as long as you keep out of trouble. Understood?"

Scout looked at John. John appeared rather surprised. "Well, that's a start," he took his arm off of Scout and patted his shoulder. "I'll be right back,"

As John left, Scout met his father's eyes. "You actually listened to me...wow,"

"Yes, but you're still going to that interview," Rene told him firmly. "And we won't be staying here forever. Who knows? Perhaps you can move in with one of your friends,"

Scout looked through the window of the restaurant. He could see Tracer and Mei standing there, watching him, and he gave them a thumbs up.

"Thanks, Spy," he smirked back at his father. When Rene made a face, Scout chuckled, "I'll explain later,"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Rene awoke in the unfamiliar hotel bed, blinking a few times as he recalled an odd, feverish dream he'd had. It was slowly slipping from his memory, but he could vaguely remember stabbing someone in the back...

He turned to look at his son, who slept beside him on top of the sheets. John slept in the other bed, while Ferguson had been content to sleep on the couch (this wasn't the first time he'd slept on a couch, and it certainly wouldn't be the last). It was still dark out, and all was silent.

Rene felt uncomfortably warm all of the sudden, so he clambered out of the bed and headed for the bathroom, hoping a cold shower would help.

As he stood beneath the stream of water, he became aware of an odd substance covering his face. At first, he brushed it off as nothing, but it seemed to become heavier and heavier until it felt as though a wet sock had been put over his head. He could still breathe and see, but those things brought little comfort as he shut the water off and staggered out of the shower to see what was going on.

He froze when he noticed his reflection: he appeared to be wearing some kind of mask, a red one with large holes cut out for the mouth and eyes. Confused, Rene touched it as if it would bite him. "Qu'est-ce que c'est?"

He tried to pull it off, wondering if maybe this was his son playing a prank on him, but to his horror, the mask wouldn't come off. He dug his nails in desperately, tugging until he jerked his hands away and let out a pained yelp. The moment he saw the blood staining his fingernails, he realized that this mask had fused to his skin.

Feeling panicked, his breathing quickened as he continued to wrestle with the mask's fabric, his nails cutting his skin and drawing blood. When he looked in the mirror and noticed the copious amount of blood dripping to his chest, he could do nothing except hyperventilate and try to figure out what was happening.

A pair of cold, hard hands grabbed his shoulders from behind, and a deep voice said, "You're awake now, Spy,"

He yelped and writhed, fighting to get away. " _Get away from me!"_

"Dad! Dad, what's the problem!?"

Rene didn't even know it was his son, so he flew open a nearby cabinet and retrieved a pair of shears. He grabbed the collar of his son's shirt and shoved him against the wall, raising the shears high.

"Dad, _stop it!"_

Rene halted, finally realizing what he was doing. Quivering, he released his son and laid the shears down, sputtering out, "I-I need your help!" he pointed to his face. "It won't come off-"

"What won't come off?" the boy still kept a good distance from his father, staring at him in concern. "Your skin?"

Rene looked towards the mirror, coming to the jarring conclusion that the whole thing had been a hallucination. Strange images flashed in his brain, ones that seemed all too familiar.

"Why the hell did you attack me?"

"I-I-" Rene swallowed, leaning against the wall. "I...I'm sorry," he hesitated, then reached out and touched his son's shoulder. "I would never hurt you, Scout,"

It took a moment for Scout to realize what his father had said, and when he did, he couldn't help but recoil a bit. "Oh, my God," There was a long pause, and Scout leaned forward slightly to look his father in the eyes. "...Spy?"

"Yes?" came the response, shaky and low.

"What's going on in here!?" John stopped in the doorway, observing the situation: Rene was naked and soaking wet, while Dylan stood next to him wearing nothing except an old pair of sweatpants with the word 'juicy' written across the back (Ferguson had bought them for him, as a joke). John acted on his first instinct and fetched a bathrobe for Rene to wear. "Cover yourself, mate!"

As Rene quickly slipped the robe on, John asked again, "What's going on?"

"I-I'm not even sure," Rene shakily grabbed a plastic cup and filled it with water, downing the liquid. "Bushman- I mean, John- can you get me my vape pen?"

John furrowed his brow, tilting his head in confusion before turning to leave. "Sure thing. Hey, kid, can we talk?"

Scout gave his father a quick glance before following John into the room's living area. "What's up?"

"What did you do?" John wanted to know, his voice a hushed, accusatory tone. "Did you say something to him?"

"I didn't say shit! He remembered on his own,"

John fished the vape pen out of Rene's briefcase and began to fill it. "Remembered what?"

Scout mentally rehearsed what he was about to say (something he didn't always do), and then took a breath. "John, you ain't gonna believe me, but a hundred years ago, we all worked together as these, uh, mercenaries, and-and you were a Sniper!"

"Ha!" John clicked the pen together. "'course I was, boy. Lemme guess- Ferguson was some kinda demolition man?"

"Uh..." Scout's mouth fell open. "That's...pretty much what he was, yeah,"

John headed back to the bathroom and handed Rene his pen. "Here, take a nice breath from this,"

Rene gladly obliged, sucking on his pen and breathing out a cloud of vapor. "Ah...many thanks," he set the pen on the edge of the sink and ran a hand through his peppered hair. "What time is it?"

Scout looked at the clock on the wall. "Three AM,"

"Agh," Rene sighed, gathering his clothes. "I must return to bed, and so should you two,"

"Right," John gestured to Scout. "Come on, boy, let your father get dressed,"

A few minutes later, the bathroom door opened again, and Rene made his way towards the bed. He flopped down beside Scout, and they both stared at the ceiling in silence for what felt like an eternity.

"Dad," Scout rolled over to look at his father. "Do you...remember being Spy? Like, do you-"

"Yes," Rene replied, closing his eyes. "I do. I don't know how, but I do. Go to sleep,"

"Okay," Scout turned away, but only for a moment. He rolled back over. "In the morning, we gotta start looking for Medic. He's-"

"I said go to sleep," Rene growled, burying his face in the pillow. "It's too late for this, Scout- Dylan- whoever you are,"

Scout shifted onto his front, but his mind couldn't stop reeling. _Yeah...whoever I am._

The sun came up a few hours later. At 7 AM, a group of Overwatch members boarded a private bus to Nature's Gate.

Nature's Gate was a place the public had come to fear, a place shrouded in mystery. Once, it had been a rural farming community, but the Omnic Crisis had left it abandoned and mostly in ruin. Due to the absence of humans, nature began to take over, and the empty houses and barns were now covered in moss as well as other plant life. Wild animals of all kinds could be seen running around, so for a while, it was a popular tourist attraction.

That all changed when reports of feral humans began coming in. Stories of mentally disturbed people living in the abandoned houses were posted to the internet and all over the media, and at first, everyone wondered if it was a hoax. It proved not to be, and after a group of college students went missing there, Nature's Gate became mysterious hellhole in the public eye.

Since then, there had been more reports of these wild people, or 'Nomads', as they'd been named. They were described as violent, cannibalistic, and according to some encounter stories, they possessed strange abilities. Despite all this, no extensive research had been done here. Perhaps everyone thought it was best to leave the Nomads alone.

Everyone except Overwatch, that is.

The bus slowed down on the side of the road, the GPS voice announcing, "Now arriving at Nature's Gate,"

Genji Shimada was the first to step out, stopping for a moment to take in the scenery.

"It's very beautiful, here," he mused aloud. "Nature just took back an entire village like it was nothing,"

"Yeah," Jesse McCree stepped out from behind him, squinting into the distance. "Too bad there's cannibals an' shit,"

Jack Morrison prodded both of them with part of his gun. "All right, you two, move it along! Can't stand here all day," He looked over his shoulder back into the bus. "C'mon, ladies!"

"I've asked you before not to call us 'ladies'," Pharah sighed, but Jack wasn't listening. She gestured to Tracer. "Let's go, Lena,"

"Coming!" chirped Tracer, grabbing her gun and following the others.

Nature's Gate was the perfect mix of unsettling and beautiful. The ghostly farm village covered in moss, plants, and thorns stood still and silent beneath the blue sky, the cry of wildlife from the thicket the only background sound.

"All right, Nomads," Jack muttered under his breath, his gun clutched safely in his hand as he looked into a bush. "Where are you hiding?"

Tracer wandered around in the grass, sticking close to her teammates. She looked thoughtfully towards a farmhouse, and wondered, "What if they're living in those houses? Like normal people?"

"Don't see how they're gettin' in," McCree stepped towards a house, looking at the door. "The door on this one's rusted shut,"

"The houses all look generally undisturbed," Pharah agreed. A nearby barn caught her attention. "Hey- that barn door's been opened,"

Jack turned around at that, and he motioned for Genji and Tracer to follow him. "Come on, we're checking the barn,"

Tracer started to follow the group, only to halt when something caught her eye: the face of a child peered out from the upstairs window of a farmhouse, and they closed the curtain when they saw Tracer looking at them.

"Hey-!" Tracer almost called out to her comrades, but they were several feet away at the barn. She knew she was supposed to follow the others, yet she couldn't ignore what she'd seen. It couldn't hurt to look, could it? And if she'd imagined the face, then it was just an honest mistake.

She approached the front door, seeing the moss that covered it. Cautiously, she tugged on the handle, surprised when it opened and tore the curtain of moss. Taking a breath, she entered.

Meanwhile, the others were met with a horrific smell when they opened the door.

"Ugh, what is that!?" Pharah made a face and covered her nose and mouth. "It smells like rotten meat!"

"Maybe it's dead cattle?" McCree suggested, looking around as they walked in further.

"Nope," Genji's voice was thick as he kept his gun close to his side. "I know that smell. There's a corpse in here,"

A hush fell over them. Everyone exchanged a nervous glance, and Jack took a breath. "Well...I guess we gotta find it,"

Tracer made her way through the farmhouse, taking in the surroundings while trying to stay silent. It was mostly empty, but it was clear someone had been in here recently. A bag of vegetables sat on the dining table, and they seemed fresh.

"Hello?" Tracer called, trying not to sound nervous. Her fingers tightened on the gun when the floorboards creaked beneath her feet. "Is there anyone in here?"

No response. Tracer trodded up the stairs as quietly as possible, glancing over her shoulder. This was the second time this week she'd ventured through an abandoned building, and hopefully this time she wouldn't find a kid dying of heatstroke here...

She pushed open the door to the room she'd seen the child's face in, and there was no one. An ominous thudding from inside the wall broke the silence, and Tracer's heart jumped. "Hello?" she asked again, pressing her ear against the wall. "Who's there?"

Once again, no one answered, and Tracer began to think of the others and how they didn't know where she was. Rather than pursuing the matter any further, she headed for the exit.

In the barn, Pharah had been the one to locate the corpse. It was under a bale of hay, and when she found it, she uttered a "Holy shit!" and stumbled back in surprise.

"What!?" Jack looked over her shoulder, only to turn away immediately. "Oh, my God...I've never seen anything like this before,"

McCree had to look, wincing. "Yikes. Looks like this guy got chomped on by the Nomads,"

"Hey!" a voice called from the doorway. It was Tracer. "What'd you find?"

"Lena, where have you been!?" Jack snapped.

Tracer put her hands up. "I swear, I didn't get into any trouble, Morrison! I-"

Before she could continue, a hail of loud gunshots boomed from the house Tracer had just been in, and the group sprung into action.

They fired back at the attackers, although no one could really tell which part of the house the bullets were coming from. After about six minutes, Genji finally sprinted to the door and broke it down, rushing inside. Almost right away, the gunshots stopped and there was a loud thumping within the walls. Acting accordingly, Genji stabbed his blade into the wall three times.

He looked into the holes he made, seeing a few drops of splattered blood on the wood. He touched the blood, looking at it and realizing that he must have nicked someone.

McCree came running in, panting, "Well!? Did you catch 'em!?"

"No," Genji answered, pointing to the wall. "I know where they went, though. And we have some DNA evidence,"

Outside, Tracer breathlessly finished explaining to Jack and Pharah what she'd seen in the house. "I-I swear, I didn't see anyone!"

Pharah and Jack exchanged a look, and Jack cleared his throat. "Lena, you shouldn't have gone in by yourself-"

"I know," Tracer nodded. "But at least we know where they are!"

Pharah rubbed her chin in thought. "Hm...if they're not using the doors to get in, then...they must have some type of underground system,"

"I heard thumping in the walls," Tracer piped up. "Maybe the tunnels go through there?"

"Maybe," Jack pulled out his phone, dialing a number. "Stick around- I gotta call someone to pick up the body,"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

"So do they know who it was?"

Tracer shook her head. "Nope. Some people came to pick the body up, and that was the last we heard," she took a thoughtful sip from her expresso. "Although Genji got a blood sample from one of the crazy ankle biters, so I think we're gonna take a look at that,"

Lucio grimaced. "Ugh. I heard the Nomads aren't even human. Is that true?"

"How should I know?" Tracer shrugged. "I only saw one, and it was a little kid. They looked pretty human to me,"

"Oh, God, a kid?" Mei looked disgusted. "They have kids? That's not good..."

"Yeah, you didn't know?" Hana struggled to peel an orange as she spoke. "The Nomads use their kids as distractions, that's how they lure people in. You see what you think is a homeless kid in the street, you go to help them, and boom! The Nomads- oh, come on! Give up the goods you orange devil!"

Lucio took the orange before Hana could rip it apart. "Let me do it. Anyway, Tracer, you're lucky you got out of that house in time,"

Tracer couldn't help but chuckle, sipping on her drink. "You're telling me!"

"Hey!" Winston approached their table with a folder in his hand. "Are you guys busy?"

Mei shook her head. "Not right now. Why?"

"I've got a new mission for you," he laid the folder down on the table. "It's important,"

Tracer groaned. "Oh, please, Winston, I just got back!"

"I know," he replied, his voice only slightly apologetic. "But I think the four of you are the best ones for this. A few locals have spotted members of Talon around Chamberlain Street, downtown," he opened the folder to reveal security camera pictures. "We only have photo evidence of two Talon members, although others claim to have seen more,"

"What do you want us to do?" inquired Hana, biting into an orange slice. "Look up and down Chamberlain Street?"

Winston shook his head. "Not exactly. You see, most of the reports came from one place: a coffee shop. Two women affiliated with Talon have been seen at Lovin' Cup at least twice, and they're always there at 9:30 AM,"

"9:30 AM?" Lucio repeated, looking at the time. "That's in an hour,"

"It is," Winston nodded. "What do you say? Can you get in one of the vans and go take a look?"

Tracer sighed, downing the rest of her drink. "Yeah, yeah, sure. Come on, guys,"

"Wait!" Hana shoved a handful of orange slices into her mouth, threw away the peel and jumped up. "Okay! Now I'm ready!"

About fifteen minutes later, the group of four were situated in a van and parked near a row of shops on Chamberlain Street. They all watched Lovin' Cup, a local coffee shop, closely. Or at least, as close as they could considering where the van was.

"Anything yet?" Tracer asked Lucio, who squinted at the shop window through a pair of binoculars.

"No," Lucio shook his head. "No one familiar,"

Mei looked at her phone. "Well, it is only 8:50. We've got some time,"

Hana turned away from the window to look at Mei, and she grinned. "So, Mei- did your hot boyfriend give you his number?"

"My-" Mei realized what Hana was talking about. "Hana, stop it!"

Hana snickered. "Well, did he?"

"He didn't!" Mei tried to sound firm, although her ears were pink with embarrassment. "I-I didn't ask,"

"Who are you talking about?" Tracer twisted around in her seat to look at the two other girls.

"You know who!" Hana raised her eyebrows and wiggled them teasingly. "The little Scoot, the one you found in the desert,"

Mei scoffed. "Little? Hana, he's older than you, I think-"

"You're looking to reel him in, Mei?" Tracer asked, rather blunt. "Please do: he flirted with me, more than once, and I'm not looking forward to telling him I don't swing that way,"

"Ooh, looks like you have a mission, Mei!" giggled Hana.

Mei covered her face. "Oh, for the love of- Hana! Ugh," she looked back up, not making eye contact with anyone. "I mean...he seems really cool, and I always thought the idea of reincarnation was fascinating, but..."

"But?" Hana prodded her.

"I'm too old for him-"

"Oh, God, Mei," Tracer cut in. "Mei, you are not old. I don't know how many times we have to tell you this,"

"I know, I know!" Mei sighed. "I just...everytime I go on a date with someone, my age situation is what turns them off. You know, with the cryostasis-"

Tracer cut her off again. "Mei, don't worry about it. You never know, maybe it won't bother him,"

"Hey!" Lucio blurted out, pointing out the window. "We got someone!"

Everyone crowded around Lucio's window to look outside. There, walking towards the coffee shop dressed in a casual outfit was Sombra, Talon's most notorious hacker.

Her pace was brisk, and she didn't seem nervous at all as she let another customer hold the door for her. They saw her mouth a 'thank you' to the man before disappearing into the shop.

"Did you see which way she came from?" Tracer inquired, not peeling her gaze away.

"She came in from the right," Lucio answered. "From the hotel,"

They watched the coffee shop in silence, and Mei remarked, "That's the same hotel Scout is staying at,"

The hotel in question was known as 'The Pearl Palace', and it was a relatively nice place. It had to be, or else Rene wouldn't have decided to stay there otherwise.

John awoke that morning to a stream of cold liquid being poured on his face. He jolted, sputtering out a curse and sitting up. "Agh, what the hell!?"

Ferguson stood over him with a half-empty bottle of water, grinning. "Aye, ye finally up, lad? We've been waitin' for you,"

"Have ya?" John grumbled, rubbing his eye. "What time is it?"

"It's 9 already, sleepy head!" John heard Scout chiding from the bed beside him. "We wanna know what you wanna do for breakfast,"

John slipped his sweater on, thinking. "Hm. Well, there's a nice little coffee shop not too far from here-"

"I'd rather not go out," Rene cut in. He was sitting up, now, looking miserable. The events from early that morning were taking their toll on him. "If you brought food here I would eat it,"

Scout huffed. "Aw, come on, Spy-!"

"Why do you keep callin' him that, ye little bastard?" Ferguson shook his head. "C'mon, boy- let's go on a shopping trip. You and me: what d'ya say?"

"All right, I guess," Scout shrugged, sliding out of bed and pulling a T-shirt over his head.

Ferguson grabbed his wallet, and he leaned over to look at Rene. "Any special requests, French Fry?"

"Non," murmured Rene, yawning as he switched the TV on.

"If ya get yogurt, get plain," John instructed from his bed, but Ferguson just smacked his arm playfully.

"I didn't ask ya, Aussie!"

A few minutes later, Scout wandered around a convenience store with Ferguson as they picked out items they could eat in their room.

"Your dad likes green tea, am I right?" Ferguson wanted to know.

"Yeah," Scout nodded, looking at an expresso shot's label. "Green tea's his favorite, he says it keeps him slim. I think he's tiny cause he only eats freakin' salads an' shit. He's turning into such a twink,"

Ferguson was quiet for a few seconds, and then he remarked, "Ye shouldn't talk 'bout your dad that way, laddie,"

"Why not?" Scout scoffed. "I'm sure he shit-talks me all time when he's with you guys,"

"He does," Ferguson confirmed. "I try'ta tell him to stop. Really, though, he cares 'bout you,"

Scout placed an expresso shot in their basket, mumbling, "He's got a really funny way of showin' it. At least he's here this time around,"

Ferguson looked puzzled. "'This time 'round'?"

"Oh," Scout paused, thinking. "Yeah...remember we were talkin' about our past lives? No, no, you were asleep-"

"When your dad was havin' a freakout? I slept through that,"

"Yeah...well, basically, in our other lives, Dad was a real deadbeat who wasn't there at all,"

"Aye, that's awful," Ferguson didn't seem skeptical like John had been earlier. He seemed to believe in the idea. "He's here for ya now,"

Scout grabbed some yogurt and put it in the basket. "He is, I guess. But he's controllin' as hell and still treats me like I'm ten! I remember, in my old life, wishin' he'd been there for me, but now he is and he's a nightmare,"

"You're bein' overdramatic, laddie!" Ferguson sounded almost offended. "He ain't a nightmare! Like I said, he cares 'bout you. He really does,"

"I hope you're right," Scout rooted through the basket. "I think we have everything,"

"Wait!" Ferguson pointed ahead to the cooler. "Gotta get some drinks,"

Scout realized he was referring to alcohol. "Ah. Yeah, 'course,"

In the van, the Overwatch agents gathered some weapons together as they waited for Sombra to leave Lovin' Cup.

"She might call for back up, so we need to be prepared just in case," Tracer advised.

Hana took a bite from a bag of chips before reaching for her weapon, and a voice in the seat behind her piped up, "Oi, can you pass me them crisps?"

"Sure thing- hey!" Hana was about to pass the chips into the backseat when she realized who it was. "Junkrat!? How long have you been in here?"

"Junkrat's here?" Mei huffed. "Ah, great,"

Junkrat sat up, tossing a towel off of his head. "I've been here the whole time! I was fixin' some vehicles in the garage, and I took a nap back here. I hope ya don't mind-"

"Rat, you can't be here!" Tracer hissed. "We're on a mission!"

"Ooh! You are?" he shoved some chips into his mouth. "Can I help?"

Tracer was about to argue, but Lucio stopped her. "Sombra's on her way out! Jamie, you can help if you don't hurt anyone who's not involved," he handed over a taser. "Do you promise, little guy?"

"I promise!" Junkrat took the taser, giddy. "Hope I get to use this,"

Sombra checked her phone as she balanced the coffees in one hand, only to sense someone come up behind her.

"Good morning, Miss Sombra!"

Sombra recognized the accent and knew who it was right away. She turned around, seeing Tracer standing there with an oddly pleasant look on her face.

"Are you alone?" Tracer asked in a sing-song tone.

"Are _you_? Oh," Sombra caught sight of the other agents coming closer as she subtly pressed a button on her phone. "I won't be soon. See ya!"

She turned around and sprinted away, and as expected, the others gave chase.

Tracer caught up to her right away, tackling Sombra and bringing her to the ground, the tray of coffee smashing onto the sidewalk and spilling everywhere. "Gotcha!" Tracer gasped, struggling with the woman.

Junkrat came bounding up to where Tracer had Sombra pinned, and he waved the taser around. "Lemme take 'er out, Tracer!"

He attempted to stun Sombra, but she rolled out of the way and he missed. He tried again, but this time hit the wrong target.

"Whoops!" he exclaimed.

Tracer fell away from Sombra, shrieking a curse as she collapsed on the sidewalk and writhed. Sombra laughed and escaped into the alleyway, Mei and Hana hot on her trail.

Mei whipped out her gun, clicking it and aiming. "Freeze!"

Yet, within a matter of mere seconds, Sombra threw something on the ground, and there was a flash of light. Her pursuers both screeched to a halt when they realized she'd vanished.

"Wh-what!?" Hana looked around, dumbfounded. "I don't understand-"

The crack of a gunshot rang from above, and Hana heard Mei yelp next to her. "Mei!?" she whirled around, watching as Mei dropped to the pavement. As Hana bent down to examine Mei, she looked behind her shoulder frantically to see where the shot had come from.

"It was Widowmaker," Mei explained, sitting up the best she could. "I-I saw her only for a second, I was going to warn you, I'm so sorry-"

"Mei, don't apologize!" Hana turned to look towards the buildings behind her. "Where was she?"

Mei pointed. "There, on the hotel roof. I- gah!" she winced and grabbed her arm. "I-I don't think she was aiming to kill, I think she was trying to scare us off,"

A few feet away, outside of the convenience store, Lucio helped Tracer to her feet. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Tracer shuddered. "Y-yeah, I'll be fine," she shot a glare at Junkrat. "No thanks to you!"

"It was an accident!" Junkrat fired back. "I wasn't tryin' to shock ya!"

"Hey, Lucio?" Hana's voice called from the alleyway. "Mei just got shot!"

Lucio was alert right away, and he raced to the alley. "I'm coming!"

As Tracer pressed the emergency call button on her utility belt, the store doors behind her swung open.

"What the heck was that noise? I heard-" Scout paused when he noticed Tracer and Junkrat. "Oh, my gosh! What are you doing here?"

"We're doing our job!" Junkrat answered proudly.

"Hello, Scout," Tracer greeted breathlessly, adjusting her utility belt. "We're busy right now. Help's on the way, Lucio!"

Tracer turned and ran down the alley, but Scout followed her. "Hey, what's goin' on? Can I help? I thought heard a gunshot!"

Lucio made a face as he examined Mei's wound. "Agh, the bullet's too far in, Mei. We should get Mercy here to remove it, I don't have any tools for that right now-"

"Mercy's coming!" Tracer announced as she dropped to her knees to look at Mei. "Was it only your arm?"

"Yeah," Mei nodded. "Widow wasn't trying to kill me,"

Scout took one look at Mei's injury and gasped. "Damn, that's messed up! Here, I think I have...wait," he retrieved a bandana from his sweatpants pocket and brushed the dust off of it before wrapping it around Mei's arm. "Here- you're bleedin' everywhere. No good to bleed that much, y'know?"

Mei felt almost mesmerized as she watched him tie the strip of fabric around her wounded arm. "Yeah...thanks,"

Hana watched the interaction, and she subtly gave Mei a playful nudge. Mei tried not to acknowledge it.

Ferguson stood awkwardly in the alley's opening, the basket hanging from his hand. "Is, uh...everything all right?"

Scout got up quickly. "Yeah! Well, not really...you can go drop those off at the room,"

"You sure you don't want me to call someone?" Ferguson continued to pry. "It's really no trouble at all-"

"We're all right, we've got someone coming," Tracer assured. "Everything's under control," As Ferguson shrugged and headed back to the hotel, Tracer muttered, "At least I hope it is,"

Mercy and Ana arrived at the scene within moments, and Mercy went to Mei's aid right away.

As Mercy removed the bandana and began working on the wound, she noticed Junkrat standing there. "Jamison? Winston sent you on this mission?"

"Nope, but I got a taser!" Junkrat told her proudly, holding up the device.

Disgruntled, Tracer came up and snatched it from his hand. "Yeah, the one you shocked me with!"

"What!?" Mercy looked up, shocked. "Are you all right, Lena!?"

When Tracer nodded, Mercy focused back on Junkrat. "Jamison Fawkes, this is _not_ some kind of game! You could have seriously hurt her!"

"It was an accident, I swear!" Junkrat fired back. "I was tryin' to get to the shadow lady, and she moved out of the way and Tracer was right there and-"

"Okay, okay!" Ana came up from behind, touching Junkrat's shoulder to calm him down. "Hey, Jamie? You should head on back to the base,"

"No!" Junkrat whirled around, his voice cracking a little. "Please, I wanna stay and help! I-I really do wanna help, and I didn't mean to-"

Ana shushed him. "I know you want to help out, honey, but I think it would be best if you left this to us, all right?" when Junkrat responded with a reluctant nod, Ana smiled. "Good. Lucio? Lucio, take Jamie back to the base, will you please?"

"Got it!" Lucio took Junkrat's arm, leading him to the van. "C'mon, bud!"

When they'd left, Ana turned her attention to Mei, who was back on her feet. "Are you decent, Mei?"

"Yes, ma'am," Mei answered, pulling out her pin to run a hand through her long, dark hair. She watched Scout out of the corner of her eye and wondered if he was looking at her. He was, but when they accidentally made eye contact, he looked away and pulled his phone out.

"Hana, can you come here, please? Okay, girls, walk me through what happened here," Ana beckoned the two of them. "I need to know where Sombra was when she disappeared, where the shot came from, and if you heard any other shots,"

Scout glanced up from his phone to see Tracer heading for the hotel, and he followed her. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"To the roof," Tracer pointed. "Spider-lady might still be around if this is where Talon's camped out,"

"Can I come with you?" Scout piped up, following her inside the building. "I've been here since last night, I kinda know the place!"

"Yeah, sure," Tracer shrugged. "Any help would be nice. Kinda dealing with terrorists here, you know?"

They took the elevator up to the top floor, where they found some stairs leading to the roof. Once they arrived at the roof, they discovered no one there.

"Just as well, I suppose," Tracer muttered to herself, walking around. "I was hoping I wouldn't run into the world's creepiest Smurfette,"

Scout called from behind her, "Hey, she left somethin' here!"

Tracer perked up, turning around. "What?"

"This," he handed her a bobby pin with a strand of dark hair. "Does this look like her hair?"

Tracer took the pin and squinted at it. "Possibly!" she retrieved a tissue from her bag and folded the evidence inside. "It could be nothing, but you never know,"

Scout grinned. "Aw, it was nothin'," he rocked back and forth on his feet before asking, "So, uh...you busy tonight?"

Tracer inhaled deeply. "I am, actually. Winston's having a team dinner tonight, and I'd rather not miss it. You remember Winston?"

"Yeah, the monkey," Scout remarked, his tone rather scornful. "I remember him. Well, what about tomorrow night?"

Tracer started to answer, but Scout had another thought. "Ooh! Before I forget, I gotta take my dad to, uh, your, um...your Omnic therapist guy! What's his name?"

"Omnic therapist-?" she realized who he was talking about. "Zenyatta! He's not a therapist. Or is he? He may be qualified, I don't know-"

The door behind them opened abruptly, and a voice broke in, "Hey, can I help y'all with somethin'?"

He was a faculty member, and his nametag said his name was 'David'. Tracer cleared her throat and stepped forward.

"Hello, sir! I hope you're having a good day. Listen, have you seen either of these women?" she presented photos of Sombra and Widowmaker on her phone. "We spotted them moments ago at this hotel, and one of them shot an agent,"

David stared at the photos in silence and shook his head. "Nope, can't help ya. Trust me, I'd remember someone like them,"

"Okay, well," Tracer tucked her phone away. "Thanks anyway. I'm going to look around a bit more, I hope you don't mind,"

"Not at all!" David assured warmly, turning to leave. "If ya need anything, you can holler,"

When he was gone, Tracer turned back to Scout. "What were you saying?"

"Uh," Scout struggled to regain his train of thought. He recognized that man from somewhere..."My dad didn't call me by my real name last night, and he also tried to stab me. He was acting all weird and psycho,"

Tracer's brow furrowed in concern. "Psycho?"

"Yeah! He was talkin' about something being on his face, and then he called me Scout instead of Dylan. It was really weird, and since that Omnic helped me, I thought he could help my dad out. Dad was the Spy who mailed those Black Flu samples, remember? Or did I not tell ya?"

"I..." Tracer blinked, trying to process everything she'd just heard. "Y-yeah, I can put you in touch with Zenyatta. He doesn't have a phone, or at least not one that I know of, so," she took a breath, knowing she might be making a mistake by doing this. "If we exchange phone numbers, I can put you into contact with him,"

Scout beamed inwardly. Here was this beautiful British chick, and she was going to give him her number! This never happened to him! Oh, yeah, and he needed her number to talk to Zenyatta again...that could come later, though. They had time, right? If Medic was really out there, they had time to find him at some point. He'd still be there when they figured out who he was.

He cleared his throat, fishing out his phone. "Here ya go!" They tapped their phones together, and the familiar click of the numbers being exchanged could be heard.

Tracer stashed her phone away. "You want to keep looking with me?"

"Yeah!" Scout piped up, trailing after her as she headed for the door. "You bet I do!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

"Widow, it wasn't my fault!" Sombra hissed as she hurriedly followed the older woman down the hallway. "I swear, I didn't see them waiting there-"

"You should have let me pick up the coffee," Widowmaker remarked tonelessly. "I'm better at blending in than you,"

Sombra snorted. "Oh, yeah, sure. The blue lady is better at blending in than-" she halted when Widowmaker aimed her gun. "Ah, ha! J-just kidding!"

"Let's hope so," Widow murmured, punching a number into the keypad and waiting for the door to open.

When it did, the two women entered in silence. Reaper sat watching the TV with his back to the door.

"What happened?" he asked in a hollow voice without turning around.

Widow stepped forward. "Overwatch found us,"

Reaper turned around, and Sombra quickly clarified, "W-well, they didn't find where we're staying! They found us outside of the coffee shop!"

"I shot an agent," Widowmaker continued. "It was Mei-Ling Zhou. I chose to leave her alive,"

"She didn't see you, did she?" Reaper wanted to know.

"I'm not sure," Widow shrugged. "Sombra took out the other agents but didn't kill them,"

Reaper turned to look at Sombra, surprised. "Really?"

Sombra thought about it. "Uh...they took themselves out, actually-"

"So you didn't bring coffee?" Moira asked from her spot behind them

"It got spilled on the street," Widowmaker answered back.

Moira made a noise of disgust. "Ach. I'll request some from our gracious host,"

As she got up to leave the room, Sombra sighed, "Well, now they're after us,"

"Sombra, this is what we want," Reaper clarified. "And, as much as I hate to say it, not killing the ice girl was a good decision. We lure the agents in first, and then we kill them. You understand? But we have to keep them distracted,"

Sombra considered this, nodding thoughtfully. "Oh...makes sense,"

Widowmaker titled her head. "You still have not given a clear answer on why we're doing this,"

"You know why," Reaper turned back to the TV, changing the channel. "We keep Overwatch away from the Nomads, and we get our dough. That's the way this works,"

A floor above where the Talon members were staying, Tracer and Scout had been looking fruitlessly for them for almost an hour. As much as Scout wanted to spend time with Tracer, he hadn't had any breakfast and was starting to get worn out.

"Hey, um," he spoke up finally. "I'm gonna call it a day for now, is that okay?"

"Oh, that's fine!" Tracer assured. "I was about to head off myself,"

"Okay!" as Tracer checked her phone, Scout ran a hand through his hair. "So, uh, I'll talk to ya later?"

Tracer nodded. "Yep! I'll get a hold of Zenyatta for you," she tucked her phone away and smiled at Scout. "So long!"

"Yeah!" he watched her go. "Yeah, so long,"

After leaving the hotel, Tracer climbed into the van and shut the door behind her. "Nothing. All we found was this," she produced the bobby pin. "Just a bit of hair and a pin,"

"Hey, it's something!" Hana encouraged.

"Yes, don't get down on yourself, Lena," Ana went on. "Also, I should tell you I looked around a little myself. I asked some hotel staff about Talon, and I can tell they're hiding something,"

"Oh, really?" Tracer was surprised. "We met a man named David who seemed sincere,"

Ana snorted. "Sincere, huh? I asked that guy if I could take a look at the basement, and instead of answering me he wouldn't stop talking about his machinery. He's most definitely hiding something, but we can't be too sure yet,"

Tracer noticed Mei looking at her phone, and she tapped her shoulder. "Oi, Mei- if you're gonna talk to Scout, you'd better do it soon. I gave him my number so he could talk to Zenyatta, and now he thinks we're going on a date,"

Mei looked flushed all of the sudden. "O-Oh! Well...what would I even say to him?"

"Tell him you wanna bang, get the formalities out of the way," Ana suggested, and she laughed when the other women made sounds of protest. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Let's get back to the base,"

Inside the hotel, the TV played a soap opera on low volume while Scout talked all about his recent adventure.

"...but all I found was like, a pin, that had hair in it!" he paused to suck a bit of juice from his fruit cup. "But, yeah, we didn't see anything else. Not that excitin', but I got to work with a hot British chick named Tracer! _And_ I got her number!"

"Aye, good on ya, laddie!" Ferguson gave Scout a pat on the shoulder.

"Too bad she's a Brit," muttered John.

Rene laid his teacup down on the bedside table, and he inhaled on his vape pen. "What else do you know about this 'Tracer'?"

"Uh," Scout tried to think. "Not much, actually...but if I spend more time with her, I'll find out!"

"Mm," Rene grunted in response.

Scout turned to look at John and Ferguson, watching as they changed the channel to watch a volleyball match. He then leaned over to talk to his father.

"So, uh, Dad," Scout began. "What exactly do you remember about-"

"Dylan, listen to me," Rene stopped him. "We're not going to continue with this nonsense. We're here get you a job because you're a man, now, all right? The past will be left in the past and that's that,"

"But- Dad, no!" Scout pleaded. "Dad, you gotta listen to me: that disease? The one on the news? Black Flu? Medic knows the cure, I'm sure of it! If we can just find Medic, he can tell us the cure and we can help a lot of people!"

Rene huffed and sipped his tea again. "Dylan, this is senseless-"

"No, it isn't!" Scout fired back. "Come on, Dad, can you just think for a second? Have you met anyone who looks like Medic or reminds you of him?"

"This is pointless-"

"Dad, please-"

Rene shot up, shouting, "Please, _shut up!"_

The room went dead silent. They had John and Ferguson's attention, now.

"Dylan," Rene inhaled deeply after a moment, his voice a little softer. "I don't remember much. I can remember bits and pieces, a few names and faces, but that's it. I...I can't even remember what Medic even looks like,"

"Rene, what are you on about?" John sounded concerned. "Did you take your meds?"

"That's none of your business, Bushman," Rene waved him off. "Anyway, mon fils, none of that matters, now,"

Scout felt his heart drop. "But...Dad-"

"That's enough, Dylan," Ferguson told him sternly. "Your father's stressed, lad,"

This would have been the end, but Scout wasn't one to give up. If he couldn't get his father to go to Zenyatta, he'd get Zenyatta to go to him.

It was now 11:00 in the afternoon.

"So, you'll be glad to know, or maybe you won't be glad to know," Mercy's hands stayed in her pockets as she addressed the agents in the lab. "That we got the results back and the body was identified,"

"Already?" Pharah asked, rather surprised.

Mercy nodded. "Yes. The man has been identified as 40-year-old Ernest George, and they were able to trace back his DNA through a sex offender registry. His family's been notified, but they haven't responded yet,"

"Sex offender, huh?" Jack poured some coffee into his mug. "I'm surprised those cannibals didn't choke,"

"Jack, please!" Winston scolded, all though he was trying not to laugh. He cleared his throat. "Mercy, how long was he there?"

"From what they could tell, roughly a week," Mercy answered. "No one reported him missing,"

"Maybe he would just disappear a lot," McCree suggested. "I knew guys like that- they'd be gone for days at a time, and when they'd come back no one would ask questions,"

"What about the blood sample I got?" Genji wanted to know. "Did that match any records?"

Mercy shook her head, going to her computer. "No, but I used the sample to create a 3D replica of what the individual's face might look like,"

She clicked on something and pulled up the file, projecting the face on the wall. There was a brief silence as the agents studied the face.

"That looks like a child," Pharah remarked finally.

"Ooh!" Tracer exclaimed suddenly, jumping up. "That's them! That's the kid I saw through the window!

"Good God," Genji muttered, mostly to himself. Did he stab a child?

Mercy went on. "According to the sample, this child is between the ages of ten and twelve years old, and they appear to have anemia-"

Winston's computer began flashing, and Athena's voice blared over the speakers, "Attention! Attention, an unauthorized person has been spotted around the perimeters! This person has already gone after two agents! It is unknown if they are armed!"

Without thinking twice, Winston leaped up and shouted, "Come on!"

As they ran down the corridor, the sound of snarling and screeching caught their ears.

"Let me at 'im! I can take 'im! Turn me loose!" it was Junkrat, and Zarya held him back from charging at the front door.

"Stop it!" she yelled at him. "I locked the doors! He can't get in!"

"What's going on!?" Winston demanded to know, storming in with the other agents behind him.

Zarya turned to look at them, Junkrat still pinned beneath her muscular arm. "There's a man outside who is very dangerous," she explained, trying to sound calm. "I do not know what he wants. I took Jamie outside to train, and this man came up to us. He was hostile and attacked us, but I did not fight him because I wasn't sure if I was allowed to,"

"That's all right, at least you alerted us," Jack walked up to the window and squinted outside. "Where is-? Oh, I see him,"

Everyone crowded around the windows to look. "It isn't a Nomad who followed us back, is it?" Tracer wondered, worried.

"No, look at what he's wearing," Pharah pointed out. "It looks like an old hospital gown,"

"Maybe he's an escaped mental patient?" Genji suggested.

Winston nodded. "That would make sense. Look at his hair- I think he sees us,"

The man seemed to be making direct eye contact with everyone at the same time as he stood there. He was tall and wide, with broad hands and dark eyes, and the dirty hospital gown was all he wore. His gaze was piercing as he stared in through the window.

This went on for close to a minute, and then Pharah began, "Maybe if we just approach him silently-"

The man charged, body-slamming the glass doors and shattering the glass. He made a yelling sound and grabbed Junkrat's prosthetic arm, lifting him in the air and ripping the metallic limb from its stump.

"Shit!" Junkrat exclaimed as he thudded to the ground, wriggling and trying to hoist himself up with one arm. "Oh, you'll pay for that, ya fat drongo! I oughta wring your neck!"

Tracer raced up to the attacker, only to be bludgeoned in the face with the metal arm. As she fell backward, she tasted blood in her mouth and made a mental note to avoid getting slapped by Junkrat in the future.

McCree cocked his gun and prepared to shoot, but he didn't have to, because out of nowhere a long chain coiled around the attacker's neck and pulled him back through the shattered glass doors.

It was Roadhog, and no one had even heard him approach. The attacker gasped and writhed as Roadhog tightened the chain around his neck.

"If I let you go, will you leave?" Roadhog growled in his ear. "Or do I just slice you up right here?"

The man didn't answer and instead reached up to grab Roadhog's mask, tearing it from him and making his ponytail come loose. This made Roadhog freeze up for only a moment, but when the attacker put his hands on him he reacted quickly and ran his sharp hook through the air, slicing the front of the hospital gown and drawing blood.

When the attacker stumbled backward in surprise, Roadhog tackled him and raised the hook high, preparing to strike.

"Roadhog!" Zarya called, running towards them. "Roadhog, don't kill!"

"Get out of here, I'm going to gut him," Roadhog told her flatly.

The man sat up quickly but dropped back down again after a 'thunk' sound resonated through the air. It was Ana, standing there holding her stun gun.

"It's all right, he'll be out for awhile," Ana commanded, motioning for Roadhog to get up. "Mako, get off of him and help Zarya take him inside. We want him alive to talk to him,"

Roadhog obeyed begrudgingly, climbing off and grabbing a hold of the man's left leg. He dropped it when a loud, intense cough wracked his body, and he began wheezing.

"Oh, no," Zarya realized, looking around. "Mako, where is your...?"

She stopped when he found it, and he reattached and breathed loudly through it. There was a pause as Ana took a moment to examine the growing black marks on Roadhog's back.

"Have you been taking the antibiotics?" she asked him.

"Yeah, but they don't do shit and you know it," Roadhog grabbed the leg again and helped Zarya hoist the man up. "I don't wanna talk about it,"

* * *

 **Hi, everyone! I hope you're enjoying this so far, I've worked hard on it. Thank you all for your wonderful comments, favorites and follows!**

 **I just wanted to give a little update real quick- less than a week from now, I'm going to take a trip to Birmingham, Alabama, and I'll be there for four days, so you may not see an update from me for a while. Nevertheless, there will still be an update at some point, so I hope you stick around for that.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading, and I would love to hear feedback from you! If you have any questions or comments, please let me know in a review.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

It had been nearly an hour.

Winston stared at the large, beast of a man held captive behind the wall of two-way glass. The man had stopped trying to attack the Overwatch agents, and now he just stared silently up at the ceiling. He still hadn't spoken a word to anyone, although he seemed to understand English.

The door opened, and Winston stood up. "Anything?"

"No," sighed Mercy, crossing her arms. "His DNA doesn't match any records, and the facial recognition search didn't reap any results either. It's almost as if he appeared from thin air,"

Winston turned back to look through the glass. "What do we do?"

Mercy shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know where to go from here. Our safest option is to call local hospitals and ask if they're missing anyone. If they say no, we'll have no choice but to hand him over to the police,"

"I can make some calls," Winston headed for the door. "Could you watch him?"

"Of course," she nodded, taking a seat.

Mercy studied the man in the chair for what felt like an eternity. He was held by chains, though she saw he was visibly struggling with them. All of the sudden, he seemed to mouth something, and Mercy paused. _Did he just speak?_

She clicked on the audio button so she could hear him, and she listened closely. The chains clinked as he struggled, and after a few minutes, Mercy heard him mutter, "Proklyatyye tsepi,"

That was all she needed to hear. Mercy pressed the intercom button on the wall. "Zarya, please report to the detainment room immediately. Thank you,"

Zarya wasted no time getting to the detainment room in the basement, and within a few minutes, she entered with a concerned look on her face.

"Is everything all right, Miss Ziegler?" Zarya asked.

"Zarya, I need to know if you can try and talk to him," Mercy gestured to the man in the chair behind the two-way glass. "I just heard him say something in Russian,"

Zarya looked up and into the other room. After a pause, she nodded slowly. "Yes, I could try,"

Mercy breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. Please take care,"

"I will," Zarya muttered in response, cautiously opening the door.

The man stopped his struggling when Zarya entered, and he tensed up. Despite the fact that he'd attacked her, she still smiled at him and confidently approached.

"Hello, friend!" she greeted him in Russian, pulling up a chair. "Do you understand me?"

He stared at her, bewildered, and then nodded.

"Good," she relaxed, leaning forward. "My name is Aleksandra Zaryanova. What's yours?"

At first, it seemed as though he wouldn't respond, but then he asked, "Which name do you want to know?"

"Hm?" Zarya's expression changed, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Which name do you want to know?" he asked again.

Zarya shrugged. "Well...whatever your name is now,"

Instead of saying anything, he lifted his broad hand and showed her his wrist. Tattooed there was a number '5' in black ink.

"Your..." Zarya tried to process what he was showing her. "Is...your name Five?"

He nodded.

Zarya blinked, and then tried again. "Was that always your name?"

"No," he answered softly, looking away.

"What was it before?"

He looked back up, swallowing. "Adrik,"

"Adrik," Zarya repeated, smiling gently. "That's a nice name,"

"Thank you, but I preferred the name I had in my first life,"

Zarya tilted her head a bit. "First life?"

He nodded. "Yes. When I was born the first time,"

"You remember?"

"I do, and so does my sister. We both remember our first lives,"

 _A sister?_ "Where is your sister, now?"

"Still at the bad place," his face darkened. "I...I was supposed to save her,"

Zarya's mind was reeling, but it didn't stop her. "Save her from the bad place?"

"Yes, from the people," he explained. "Barbie and Ken treat us badly, but Ken treats my sister worse. He did bad things to her, so I came looking for help,"

"Where is the bad place?"

Adrik's face contorted, and he looked away again. "I don't...I don't remember- I pretended to be dead. They put me in a truck and then left me in a hole. I climbed out and followed train tracks, and I got on the train. That's how I got here,"

Zarya processed this silently, and she rose up. "Thank you, Adrik," she laid a comforting hand upon his shoulder. "We're going to help you,"

She left the room, where she found Mercy pacing there anxiously.

"Well?" Mercy wanted to know as Zarya entered.

"It is worse than what we thought if what he tells is the truth," Zarya explained quietly.

At the same time, Tracer leaned over her bathroom sink, pressing a damp paper towel to the roof of her mouth.

"So, anyway," she heard Emily continue over speakerphone. "Your mum said she would help support us until I find work again,"

"Uh-huh," Tracer tried her best to respond, spitting a bit of blood in the sink.

There was a pause, and Emily asked, "Still bleeding?"

"Yeah," sighed Tracer. "It's slowing down, now. Maybe I shouldn't have tried to eat something so soon,"

Emily gave a sweet little laugh, and it warmed Tracer's heart despite the tinny blood still in her mouth. After a few seconds, Emily cleared her throat.

"Lena?" she began, sounding somewhat nervous. "Lena, I wanted to talk to you about something,"

Tracer had a sinking feeling she knew what it was, but she asked anyway. "What is it?"

"Lena, sweetheart," Emily faltered but pressed on. "I-I couldn't take it anymore. Your mum and I bought tickets, and we're coming to see you,"

There it was. Tracer inhaled deeply, picking up her phone and carrying it with her as she came to rest on the couch, pulling her laptop closer to her. "Emily, you can't-"

"Please, Lena!" Emily's voice pitched a little. "I'm sick of not seeing you! It feels like you've been gone forever!"

"It won't be forever, I promise!" Tracer countered, trying to keep a gentle tone. "Emily, once I finish these missions, I'll come back! And you know what we'll do?"

"What?"

Tracer thought about it. "We...we'll go on a cruise!" she shifted a bit on the couch, the phone still in her hand. "A big, romantic cruise, with fancy snacks and a pool. And-and we can have those fruity little drinks you like! Doesn't that sound amazing?"

"It does," Emily agreed wistfully. "But how long do I wait for that? Lena, Overwatch has you working on multiple missions, and now you've picked up this 'Black Flu' thing as a side project! Those missions could take weeks, months, perhaps even a whole year to complete. I don't want to keep waiting here all alone,"

There was a silence. Emily spoke up again. "It's already settled. We bought tickets, and we'll be there in a week,"

"Only a week?" Tracer repeated, rather surprised. "I mean, you're coming all the way from London-"

"The tickets for that day were cheaper," Emily clarified. "I'll send you more details later, all right?"

Tracer's laptop starting pinging, and she noticed the group chat notifications were going off. "Yeah..."

"All right," Emily affirmed. "I have to run an errand, but we'll text later. I love you!"

"Love you, too!" Tracer responded. The call ended, and she leaned back on the couch cushion, thinking. It wasn't safe for Emily to be here, not in this base anyway. Talon agents were running amuck, Nomads were just as wild as ever, Black Flu was an issue of course, and then the incident with the intruder was proof that the base wasn't totally safe. It was no place for her beautiful girlfriend, that was for sure.

But, Emily was stubborn, and Lena understood this. Once Emily got a thought in her head, there was no shaking it from her.

The group chat pinged again, and Tracer sat up. "Right, what's all this, then?" she muttered, opening the chat to look.

As she scrolled through the messages, her phone started ringing again, and she groaned. "Ugh, what now?"

Part of her hoped it was Emily again, but she hesitated when she saw the contact name. _Oh, bloody hell...I really don't feel like talking to him._

Yet, she felt bad about just watching it ring, so she answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, girl!" she could almost hear the grin in Scout's voice as he spoke. "How ya doin' this afternoon?"

"Oh, fine, just fine," Tracer sighed. "How's it going with you?"

"Eh, I can't complain. Hey, you talk to Zenyatta yet?"

Tracer had nearly forgotten. "Oh! No, I haven't, I've been busy. When would you like to see him?"

"Actually, there's been a little change of plans. I was thinkin' maybe instead of takin' my dad to see him, Zenyatta could come to see us?"

"You mean...to your hotel?"

"Yep! My dad's really fightin' the idea,"

The group chat pinged again, but this time Zarya had sent a long message. Tracer leaned in, her eyes darting across the screen while the phone still sat in her hand. "Dear lord..."

"Everything okay?"

"Uh, yeah!" Tracer reassured. "It's just...the Overwatch group chat is talking about an intruder we took in today,"

"An intruder?" Scout sounded intrigued. "Cool! Was it a Talon member?"

Tracer couldn't help but chuckle. She liked his enthusiasm. "No, no. We thought he was a patient from a mental home, but according to another agent, he escaped from somewhere else. He's a large, Russian bloke," her tongue brushed over the wound in her mouth, and she winced. "Packs quite the punch, too,"

Scout went silent on the other end, and Tracer wondered for a moment if he was still there. Yet, soon he replied, "Wait...you're tellin' me you picked up a big Russian dude who was kinda violent?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, man," he muttered. "I think- okay, okay, hear me out: I might know him,"

Upon hearing this, Tracer typed, _"Scout thinks he knows him,"_

Right away, Winston responded, _"Oh God no. Don't bring him here please,"_

 _"Who is that?"_ Zarya wanted to know.

Over the phone, Scout went on. "I-I mean, I'm sure there are a lot of big scary Russian dudes, but I only knew one! Maybe I can talk to him!"

"How do you know if he'll remember you?" Tracer asked.

Scout paused for a moment. "Uh...ask 'im!"

Tracer typed, _"Ask him if he remembers a 'Scout',"_

Despite Winston's protest, Zarya agreed. _"Fine, will ask,"_

Minutes later, Zarya reopened the door to the confinement room. "Hello, again!" she greeted Adrik.

He actually smiled at her this time, and things seemed calm for a second. However, that changed when he asked her something.

"Could you take off these chains?"

Zarya froze. Her eyes wandered to the chains that bound his wrists behind his back, and then up to his face. After a moment, she nodded. "Yes...but you have to promise me you won't escape,"

He nodded and made a sound of agreement. Zarya walked behind him, kneeling down by the chair and removing the chain's lock. She braced herself, but relaxed when he just brought his hands up to rub the marks around his wrists.

"All right," Zarya glanced behind her, noticing a pile of boxes sitting in the corner. "Would you like to help me with a puzzle?"

He was quiet and then shrugged. "Yes,"

Zarya stood up, selecting a clock puzzle and laying it on the table. As she spread the pieces out and started to help him put it together, she spoke up again. "Adrik, you said you remembered your first life?"

"Yes, I do," he responded, focused on the pieces and he clicked them together.

"I see," Zarya went quiet for a few seconds before speaking again. "Does the name 'Scout' mean anything to you?"

Adrik paused, a puzzle piece clutched within his broad hand. "Why?"

"A boy says he knows you," Zarya acknowledged. "An agent spoke to him, and he says he knows you. His name is Scout-"

"That is not his name," Adrik cut in. "It was his job, his title. Where is he?"

"Right now? No one has told me, but I don't think he's far. Would you like to see him?"

Adrik thought about it, meticulously pushing more pieces together. "Yes," he decided.

Zarya smiled, turning away and rising out of the chair. "All right. If you'll excuse me,"

Winston watched from the two-way glass as Zarya entered. "Adrik has asked for the Scout,"

"Huh," Winston looked a little surprised, but didn't argue. "Send for him, then,"

Tracer and Scout had been mindlessly chatting over the phone when the group chat lit up again. Tracer jerked up, leaning in to look at the screen, and she gasped. "Scout! Scout, he asked for you!"

"What!?" Scout's voice cracked, and he quickly cleared his throat, composing himself. "Uh, 'course he did! 'Course he remembers me, uh, when should I get there?"

"I can pick you up," Tracer offered, slipping her boots on. "I'll be there in a few minutes. You're not busy, are you?"

"Nah, my dad and his buddies went shopping!" Scout assured. "See ya in two shakes of a cat's whiskers!"

Scout didn't know whether to bring anything or not, so he fetched his bag and draped it over his shoulder. He grabbed a water bottle from the hotel's mini fridge (after passing out in the desert, he'd become very cautious of how hydrated he was), and went to the door.

The moment he opened it, he became face to face with his father. "Oh! Uh, hey dad. You're back early,"

Rene's eyes narrowed. "Yes, John and Ferguson wanted to go to the liquor store, but I bought everything I needed to," he set the paper bag down on the bed. "Where are you going?"

"Somewhere important," he turned back and tried to leave. "Gotta go-"

"Stay where you are," Rene ordered. "Dylan, what are you up to?"

"Nothin' really," Scout sighed, knowing his father would keep grilling him for answers anyway. He checked his phone, waiting for Tracer's text. "Wouldn't matter to you anyway,"

Rene's eyebrow twitched, and he crossed his arms. "Really?"

"Yeah,"

"And why not?"

"Because..." Scout fiddled with the strap on his bag. He decided he would just tell the truth. "Spy, they found Heavy,"

"Oh, for God's sake," Rene groaned. "Dylan, I told you to stop-"

"And you know what? I ain't listenin' to you!" Scout fired back. "They found Heavy, and he asked for me. He remembers me, Spy! And he'll remember you, too,"

His phone vibrated, and he checked it. It was Tracer. " _I'm here,"_

"Dad, I gotta go," Scout started to walk through the door, only to feel his father grab his shoulder. He tensed up at the touch. "I'm goin' and you can't stop me,"

Rene said nothing for a few seconds, and then he removed his hand. "Fine, but I'm coming with you,"

"What?" Scout turned to flick his gaze up at his father, a look of confusion written across his features. "Ya mean it?"

"If I can keep you from dying of heat stroke, yes," a hint of a smile played across Rene's lips, but it dissipated. "We're coming right back here afterward, though,"

"Yeah! Yeah, come on!" Scout bounded down the hallway and gestured for Rene to follow. "This way,"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

It was noon when the van pulled into the garage.

"So, where is he?" Scout wanted to know, stepping out of the van. "Like, is he in a cell?"

"He's in a confinement room in our basement," Tracer explained, shutting the door behind her. "Zarya said she took the chains off of him because he's calmer than before,"

Rene paused on the pavement, taking a moment to look at the building. "So, this is the base site?"

"For now, yes," Tracer nodded. "Come on, I'll show you around-"

"Actually," Rene inhaled on his vape pen, trying not to look anxious. "Perhaps I'll wait outside,"

Scout only sighed loudly. "Dad, come on,"

"I'll be fine," Rene tried to assure. "You go do what you need to do,"

"I ain't goin' without you," Scout told him firmly, crossing his arms. "This is about you, too,"

There was a long pause, and Rene slipped his pen in his pocket. "Fine, I'm coming,"

"Are you sure?" Tracer asked.

"I'm sure," Rene headed for the building. "Come on, we're wasting time,"

Tracer led the two inside and then down the basement steps, where she opened a door at the bottom. Winston and Mei were inside, chatting about something in quiet voices when the door opened.

Mei lit up when she saw Scout. "Uh, h-hey!"

"Hey," he greeted back, much to her delight. "How's your arm?"

"Oh! Um, a lot better," she rolled up her sleeve to show him. "Thank God for modern medicine, right?"

"Yeah," Scout replied, although now his attention was focused elsewhere. He watched the two people behind the two-way mirror in front of him. "Yep, that's Heavy, all right," he reached for the doorknob. "Can I-?"

"Not until I say," Winston told him, his voice rather stern. "And we have to let Zarya know first, just in case-" he paused when he saw Rene standing there. "Who is this?"

"I'm his father," Rene answered, gesturing to Scout and shaking Winston's huge hand. "I should tell you, I'm very impressed with the layout of this base,"

"Oh!" Winston's demeanor changed entirely, fidgeting with his hands and staring at the floor. "I-it's nothing, really, me and some colleagues of mine designed it. Well, it was here before, b-but it was a different building and we just renovated everything-"

"Winston," Tracer stopped him before he could keep rambling. "Could you let Zarya know they're here?"

Winston turned around in the chair and reached for the control panel. "Yes! Y-yes, of course, I- wait, they're both going in?"

"I don't have to go in-" Rene tried to say, but Scout stopped him.

"Yeah, he's comin' in with me,"

Winston considered this, and he shrugged. "All right, then," he clicked a button on the control panel and spoke into the microphone. "Zarya, two visitors are about to enter,"

Zarya heard this through her earpiece, and she paused in confusion. Two visitors? There must have been some change of plans.

She got the attention of the man who was putting a puzzle together with her. "I think your friend is coming,"

Sure enough, the door opened, and Scout stepped inside tentatively. He made eye contact with the man at the table, and he tried to smile.

"H-hey, buddy," Scout greeted, pulling up a chair to the table. "How are ya?"

There was an awkward silence as the man scanned Scout up and down with his eyes, not saying a word. Scout couldn't stand it after about thirty seconds.

"Y...you do remember me, don't ya?" Scout swallowed nervously, wondering if he'd made a mistake of some kind. "You asked for me, didn't you, Heavy?" all of the sudden, the large hand found the collar of Scout's shirt, and he yelped. "Don't kill me!"

Zarya jumped out of her chair, starting to shout, "Don't-!" but she froze when she saw what was happening.

Scout relaxed when he realized Heavy wasn't trying to kill him but was hugging him. He held him back, although he was unable to get his lithe arms around the mountain of a man.

"I am very happy to see you," Heavy remarked after a moment, his voice soft.

"Good to see you too, pal," Scout replied, rather quiet.

Heavy glanced up when he sensed someone else in the room, and he pulled away from Scout only slightly when he saw Rene. "Spy!" he extended a hand towards him, a look of pure joy on his face. "Come!"

Rene hesitated, and then slowly took a step forward, grasping Heavy's hand. "Hello-" he was cut off when Heavy yanked on his arm and pulled him into the embrace. Rene tensed up but melted into the contact after only a few seconds, and it seemed to clear his mind a bit.

On the other side of the two-way glass, the three agents watched the reunion in silence.

"One hundred years later, and they still remember each other," Mei marveled aloud.

Winston stared at the scene, and then glanced over to look at Tracer. "Do you...do you really believe that this is a case of reincarnation?"

"Do you?" Tracer asked in return.

"I..." Winston turned back to the glass. "I don't know,"

Elsewhere, John swung the door to the hotel room open, looking around. "Rene? Dylan?" he stepped inside. "Hm. It seems we're alone,"

Ferguson set down the liquor store bag on the counter, where he noticed a note. "They left us a note!" he snatched it up and squinted at it. " _'Dylan and I will be back soon. Try not to drink all the red wine,'_ " Ferguson snorted. "Frenchie can't stop me,"

John loaded the drinks into the mini-fridge, eyeing the food Rene had bought. "Fergus, did Rene tell you how long he plans on staying?"

"Nope," Ferguson switched the TV on, choosing a news station. "Might as well make ourselves at home, aye?"

"All I know is we'll be here long enough to get Dylan a job," John muttered, mostly to himself. "Lord only knows how long that will take,"

"Ya worry too much, lad!" Ferguson barked from the couch. "Bring that wine and we'll watch something,"

John gave Ferguson a glare. "It's noon, we're not having wine,"

Ferguson scoffed. "You're no fun,"

John got a bottle of grape juice instead, pouring a glass and passing it to Ferguson. "Here, try not to spill it,"

"Aye, hate to spill anything on our clothes," Ferguson agreed. "Nowhere to wash them,"

"Well, not exactly. I believe there's a laundromat across the street," John had a sudden thought. "Actually, doesn't this hotel have a place for laundry?"

Ferguson thought about it. "I think so, yeah. Seen it in the ads,"

John rose up, heading for the door. "I'll go take a look around, see what its like. I'll be right back,"

"S'all right," Ferguson mumbled out in response, focusing on the TV.

The hotel was a lot bigger on the inside than it was on the outside, and John quickly discovered this as he tried to navigate his way around. Oddly enough, there weren't many employees around he could talk to, but it was noon and he just assumed they were taking a lunch break.

John eventually discovered a sign pointing to a flight of stairs leading downwards, and to his delight, the sign read 'laundry room and employee bathrooms'. He'd found it.

Yet, a strange feeling brewed within him as he walked down the steps. Something wasn't right: everything was eerily dark, and it was empty. He found the room marked 'laundry', but when he tugged on the door, it was locked. There was a keypad near the handle, and obviously, he didn't have a code. John just stood there, fidgeting a little while looking around for some type of assistance he had a feeling wouldn't come.

As he turned to head back up the stairs, the door behind him opened, snapping him to attention. He looked over his shoulder, and he saw a woman standing there. Her skin had an unnatural, blue tint to it, and she wore bizarre clothing. There was something in a black case hanging at her side, and she stared at John with a blank expression.

The woman looked directly into his eyes and asked, "How did you get down here?" she was French, he could hear it in her voice.

"I..." his voice came out weak, so he cleared his throat and tried again. "I was looking around for the laundry room is all," he pointed to the door behind her. "Is that it?"

She didn't answer his question. "No one is supposed to be down here,"

"I'm sorry, I-I didn't realize," John backed away slowly, the bad, gnawing feeling growing worse. "I can go, it's not a problem. I can do my laundry at the laundromat across the street..."

"You are not going anywhere," the woman grabbed his shirt, tugging him closer to her. "You are going to forget you saw me, understood?"

John's mouth went dry now that he was closer to her. Her face was expressionless, as was her voice, but her eyes were full of so much feeling that it scared him. His eyes flicked down to the black case, which was now laying on the ground, and he noticed the word 'Widowmaker' written in white lettering.

"Widowmaker?" he tried to pull away. "Is...is that you? Is that your name?"

She only stared at him, and then slammed his head directly into the wall.

Everything went black.

He wasn't sure how much time passed, but all he knew was that in the next moment, there was a cold wetness soaking his clothing. As feeling returned to his limbs, he realized he was lying on a hard surface with frigid water rushing over him.

He jerked awake, sitting up and seeing he was in some kind of shower room. A spigot poured freezing water on his fully clothed body, and he felt around blindly to shut it off.

John took a moment to catch his breath, looking around and taking in the surroundings. "Hello?" he called out, anxious. There was no one.

"Shit," he muttered to himself, thinking over the previous events. "I walked into something bad, didn't I?"

The shower made a 'ca-chunk' noise and some liquid began to drip from the showerhead. John didn't think much of it and turned to leave until he saw that a drop had fallen on his wrist.

It was not water, but blood.

Horrified, he whirled around to look at the showerhead, only to have a great amount of fluid splash him in the face. John gasped and sputtered, pressing his eyes shut to avoid getting any of the rancid, tinny blood in them. He stumbled backward, slipping on the slick shower floor and landing flat on his back, letting out a pained yell as he did so.

Gasping, he sat up, finally opening his eyes and seeing that the entire shower area was soaked in dark wet blood. He was drenched in it, too: his clothes, his hair, his everything, and he looked around frantically.

"Hello!?" he cried out again. "I need help! Is anyone there!?"

He struggled to stand up, and that was when he noticed a tall, looming figure standing in the doorway. Fear seized his heart at the sight. "Wh-who are you!?"

The figure simply smirked, chiding with a deep voice, "Don't pretend you don't know me, Sniper,"

John tried to run towards the figure, only to slip again and land face down. He tried to push himself up, but he tensed when a pair of hands got a hold of his shoulders. "Let go of me!" he snapped, swinging.

"You're all right, you're all right!" a voice above him assured, helping him up.

John looked into the stranger's face, and somehow he recognized them. "Engineer! Engie, you need to help me-"

"I'm sorry, what? What are you talking about?"

Hearing this grounded John back to reality, and he recognized the man helping him as David, an employee at the hotel. John also realized that there wasn't any blood, and he was only covered in water.

"W...where am I?" John asked finally, his voice quivering.

"The employee bathroom," David explained, his voice full of concern. "What's goin' on, son? You all right?"

"I'm not all right," John sighed, running a hand through his damp hair. "I...I think I'm losing my mind,"

David tugged him away from the showers in a gentle yet firm motion. "C'mon, I'll help ya out. Let's get a coffee and talk this over, hm?"

"All right," John agreed, his breath slowing somewhat.

Back at the base, Scout finished telling Heavy all about why they were there.

"So, that's basically it," Scout concluded, his hands fiddling with a puzzle piece. "All we gotta do now is find Medic and have him tell us what the cure to this Black Flu thing is,"

Heavy made a noise of understanding, gently plucking the puzzle piece from Scout's hands. "It is not that simple,"

"I know that," Scout assured. "I-I mean, if he doesn't remember, then we gotta make him remember, but what if he doesn't want to? I kinda wish this could be easy. I wish a lot of things were easy..."

"Don't we all?" Spy mused beside him.

Heavy pressed the piece into a shape, pulling it back and tutting when it didn't quite fit. "You say 'if' a lot. 'If this, if that', so much if,"

There was a pause, and a thought crossed Scout's mind. "Hey, Heavy? How come you remembered all this stuff already?"

"My sister and I knew it for years," Heavy answered softly. "Since we were taken. When you are in the same place for a long time, and bad things are happening, your mind walks away from you and makes you remember things,"

"Since you were taken?" Scout's brow furrowed. "Taken by who?"

Heavy's face creased with anguish, and he glared down at the puzzle. " _Them_. Barbie and Ken,"

"I'm sorry- Barbie and Ken?" Spy sounded confused. "Like the dolls?"

"No!" Heavy snapped, but he stopped himself from getting angry. "No...they are not dolls. They are people," for a moment, it seemed like he wasn't going to elaborate, but that changed. "Long time ago, don't know how much time, my sister and I went on a camping trip. Our other sisters were there, and our mother. Sister and I were getting firewood when Ken came up to us. He said his dog was stuck and needed help, and we said we would help him. When we were far away, he grabbed us and threw us in his truck,"

"Damn," Scout cursed under his breath. He couldn't even fathom what that was like, having everything snatched from you in a second because you thought you were helping someone.

"How old were you?" Spy asked.

Heavy thought about it. "I was twelve, sister was nine,"

"How long ago was this?"

"I...I can't remember. Ken took us to the bad place, where he locked us from everyone. Barbie gave us a TV, but only had two channels,"

"And you just got out?" Scout inquired.

Heavy nodded. "Yes. I left to save my sister because Ken treats her worse than me. If no one stops them, they will not stop themselves,"

The door opened, and Mercy walked in. "Hello, there. I'm sorry to interrupt, but I wondered if you wanted a change of clothes?"

"Me?" Heavy asked, and Mercy nodded.

"Yes, you're not wearing that hospital gown everywhere," she gave a slight laugh. "Also, I would like to look you over, if that's all right,"

"It is," Heavy rose to his feet, and he turned to look at his two visitors. "Thank you for seeing me,"

"Never a problem, we were happy to do it," Spy cracked a smile at him and shook his hand.

Scout's mind was still whirring, murmuring a goodbye and a promise to return as Heavy hugged him again. He followed his father out of the building after this, and as soon as the sunlight hit him, something in him woke up.

"Dad, are you sure you don't wanna remember?" he asked.

"Dylan..." Spy trailed off and decided not to argue. "Let's just go,"

"Zenyatta's here," Scout pressed on. "We can go see him right now!"

Spy closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. Finally, he replied, "All right. I'll do it,"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

"How is Jamison after the attack?" Zenyatta wanted to know, stabbing a pin into part of the eggshell.

"Oh, he's all right. Just as feisty as ever," Genji replied, holding up what they'd done so far. "Egg snake is almost three feet long. When do you think we'll finish him?"

Zenyatta shrugged. "Whenever we feel like it,"

Genji nodded, reaching for another pin. "Why are you so concerned about Jamison? He can't stand you,"

"I know that," Zenyatta sighed. "And I understand. A lot of the agents have pre-conceived notions about my type, but the only way I change that is by being kind. You understand?"

"I think I do," Genji fiddled with a pin in his hands thoughtfully, and he set it down when there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it,"

Genji opened the door, and he paused when he saw two unfamiliar men standing there. "Can I...help you?"

"Yeah, is Zenyatta here?" Scout asked, glancing over Genji's shoulder.

Zenyatta overheard this, and he called, "Oh, let him in, Genji!" Zenyatta mentioned for Scout to sit as he entered. "It's so wonderful to see you, Scout,"

"Thanks, you too! I-" he noticed Egg snake lying on the floor. "What's that?"

"Just a little project my good student Genji and I have been working on. Tell me, what brings you here today?"

"Well, actually," Scout beckoned his father, who stood off to the side. "My dad is the one who needs help today,"

Zenyatta looked Spy up and down, and Spy leaned towards Scout to hiss, "You didn't tell me he was an omnic,"

"Does it matter?" Scout hissed back.

"That won't be a problem, will it?" Zenyatta asked.

Spy thought about it. "No, no, it won't," he sat down on the mat, crossing his legs. "My son says you helped him remember everything about his past life?"

Zenyatta nodded. "I helped him remember what his mind could comprehend, yes,"

"I see. Well, I need some help remembering, but I already have some memories,"

"Do you?" Zenyatta sounded intrigued. "Interesting. What is it you remember?"

"Basic elements," Spy explained. "Names, places, but everything else is...blurry,"

Zenyatta put his hands together, thinking this over. "Do the memories from your past life feel like a dream?"

"When you phrase it that way: yes, they do,"

"I understand," Zenyatta sat up, his hands falling to his sides. "I know what's happening. Genji? Scout? If the two of you could step out for a moment, please,"

Scout got up, following Genji out of the shed and stopping in the doorway to briefly glance back at his father. They made eye contact for a few seconds before the door closed.

After the door had shut, Zenyatta reached out and gently took Spy's chin to make him look at him. "I won't have to go quite as deep as I went with your son. Since you already have some memories, uncovering one major event should help get everything back in order. Understand?"

"I..." Spy swallowed. "I understand, yes,"

Zenyatta tilted his head. "You seem nervous. Why is that?"

Spy looked away, murmuring, "It's nothing,"

"It's definitely something, I can tell," Zenyatta took his hand, and Spy found the cool metal strangely comforting. "You don't mind telling me, do you?"

"Not at all," Spy took a breath, then admitted, "I'm worried about remembering something...bad. Yet I already have a feeling I know what it was,"

"Was it something you did?"

Spy nodded. "Yes,"

Zenyatta hummed understandingly. "Tell me: does it have to do with your son?"

Spy looked up, surprised. "How could you tell?"

"You love that boy," Zenyatta remarked. "And something happened between the two of you in that life, didn't it?" when Spy nodded again, Zenyatta went on. "Whatever it was, just know that it happened in a life that's behind you, and now you have a new life with your son. You're very lucky to have this new chance,"

"Thank you," Spy gave a slight smile. "I appreciate it,"

Zenyatta reached for a strip of cloth, continuing, "Now, we're going to dig into your mind to get your memories in order, so relax, and I'll be here the whole time,"

Spy tried to loosen his shoulders as Zenyatta tied the blindfold around him, blanketing his vision in darkness.

"What do you see?" Zenyatta's voice cut through the silence after what felt like several minutes.

Shapes began to manifest in the blackness, and light began creeping in. "A table," Spy observed.

"Can you tell me what's on the table?"

"A newspaper, a coffee mug, and an ashtray,"

"Describe where you are,"

Spy looked all around, taking everything in. "I'm in the dining room,"

"Which dining room?"

"The base's,"

"Are you alone?"

"For now. I hear someone in the hallway,"

Footsteps and conversation seemed to get closer, and Spy strained to listen. "It's...it's Medic and Engineer," he managed to pick out a squeaking sound accompanying the other voices and noises. "Engineer is pushing a cart...wait, I remember this. I remember this moment,"

"Relive it," Zenyatta instructed, and Spy did just that.

 _"Anyway, the Administrator wanted you to take a look at it," Engineer explained. "She wouldn't tell me anythin' else. You think you can use it?"_

 _Medic studied the outside of the box, and he felt his pockets. "Do you have a box cutter?"_

 _"I have one," Spy spoke up, nearing them and handing the tool over._

 _"Danke, Herr Spy," Medic sliced the box open, revealing a set of small jars filled with a golden liquid._

 _Spy wrinkled his nose. "If this is the Bushman playing some kind of prank-"_

 _"No, no," Medic picked up one of the jars and squinted at it. "'C-3709: Black Forest'. Odd name. What did the Administrator say this was for?"_

 _"She said it was a weapon," Engineer shrugged. "Some kinda poison,"_

 _Medic rubbed his chin, thinking. "I'll have to do a test on it. Are you sure she didn't give you any other instructions?"_

 _"Look, doc, all she told me was what I told you,"_

 _"Strange," Medic put the jar back and closed the box. "Let's take this to my office for now. Here is your box cutter,"_

 _"Merci," Spy took the box cutter back and tucked it away. As Engineer and Medic headed for the office, Spy lit another cigarette._

Spy's eyes adjusted to the light as the cloth was pulled away.

"How do you feel?" Zenyatta asked.

"I feel..." his body felt oddly calm. "Better, somehow,"

"Good, that's good," Zenyatta responded. "Is everything clear, now?"

Spy nodded slowly. "Yes...yes, it is," a thought crossed his mind, and he looked around. "Do you have any paper?"

"I do!" Zenyatta grabbed a notepad and a pen.

Spy quickly sketched something, and he explained, "I saw this symbol at one point. Do you recognize it?" he turned the notepad to show Zenyatta.

"I'm afraid I don't," Zenyatta shook his head. "But show your son. He may know,"

"I will," Spy stood up, and he smiled at Zenyatta once more. "Thank you again,"

Zenyatta dipped his head in respect. "I'm glad I could help,"

Later, as Scout and Spy left the shed, Spy showed his son the drawing. "I saw this at one point. Does it look familiar to you?"

Scout's brow furrowed, and he went silent for a few seconds. "Oh, yeah!" he realized finally. "Sometimes we'd get boxes with that picture on them!"

"Yes," Spy squinted at the image. "I do remember. See, this was printed on the box those samples came in,"

"Huh," Scout rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I wonder-"

"Hey, how'd it go?" Tracer chirped as she approached them, Mei trailing behind her.

"It went great!" Scout chimed, gesturing to his father. "I mean, he's not pissed off at me for once, so that's a good sign,"

Spy only clicked his tongue, reaching up and ruffling Scout's hair. "Hush,"

Scout snickered but then had a thought. "Hey, could you take a look at this?" he handed Tracer the drawing. "Do you know what it is?"

Tracer took the paper, pursing her lips together. "Hmm...I don't recognize it. Do you, Mei?"

"No, I..." Mei trailed off, studying the image. "Actually, I think I do. I don't know what it's called, but I think I've seen that before,"

"Great!" Scout passed the paper over to her. "Could ya look into that for me? Might be kinda important,"

"Uh-" Mei took the paper, fiddling with it before grinning at Scout. "Yeah! Yeah, I can do that,"

"Okay, good!" Tracer clapped her hands together. "Do you need a ride back?"

Spy nodded. "Yes, thank you,"

After bidding them goodbye, Mei headed for the computer lab, feeling a sense of giddiness. It was strange for her, experiencing these emotions as an adult rather than a teenager. She was a professional for God's sake! Here she was, a professional, acting like a young schoolgirl around a guy- a guy who was younger than her. But what was the harm? No harm at all, just a woman experiencing normal feelings. There was nothing wrong with that.

She thought she'd masked her emotions well until she sat at a computer and opened it, and she heard Hana speak up from behind her. "What are you so happy about?"

Mei suddenly became very self-aware. "Oh! Um...nothing, really," she got the picture out, looking it over. "I just found something interesting to do,"

Hana smirked. "Really?" she sat in the chair beside her, leaning over. "Something interesting to do? That wouldn't happen to be 'you know who'-"

"Hana, come on!" Mei covered her face, embarrassed. "We're professionals!"

"Yeah, professional cuties!" Hana giggled, standing back up. "Mm'kay, get your work done. I'll talk to you later,"

Mei shook her head, sighing. "You too, Hana," she put the image through the scanner and did a reverse image search.

Nothing came up. She didn't really know what she'd been expecting since it was a rough sketch after all.

Yet, she knew she recognized that picture from somewhere, so she pressed on. She put it through a photo manipulator and began to put different colors over it.

Yes, yes, that made more sense. The picture was a circle with a curved line traveling through it, but as Mei played around with the autofill, it started to take on a different form. She put gray beneath the line and blue above it, and it became a mountain against a blue sky.

This time, she put the completed picture through the reverse image search, and her mouth fell open. "Oh, no way,"

At the hotel, within the employees' quarters, David poured a cup of coffee for the disturbed costumer he'd met only recently.

"So..." David began thoughtfully, seating himself in a folding chair. "You have no idea how you got in our showers?"

John shook his head, his fingers gripping the paper cup. "I saw that woman, she knocked me out, and I wound up in that shower. That's all I know," he thought it was best not to mention the blood from the showers, as he assumed David would believe he was crazy if he did.

"Did you catch her name?" David wanted to know.

"No, I- wait," John thought about it, sipping the coffee. "Her bag...her bag had 'Widowmaker' on it. Made me think that was her name or at least a nickname,"

David went silent, taking a swig from his cup. He drummed his fingers on the cup, and then asked, "This was near the laundry room, right?"

"Yes, it was,"

"Could I take a look at your head?"

John hesitated, then leaned forward. "Sure,"

David rooted though John's hair, making a face at the sight of a nasty bruise. "Yep, you got clonked all right. I'll look into it, don't you worry,"

"Thank you," John nodded.

Yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that David knew more than he was letting on. John didn't pursue this matter further, though, but he knew he'd never forget it.

As John left the employees' quarters, he suddenly became aware of strange memories flashing through his mind. Where had they come from? They were foggy and distant, yet familiar somehow, like a dream. Perhaps that was it: he was simply recalling a dream he'd had, one where he had a job he cared about very much...

He thought about the conversation he'd heard Rene and Dylan having earlier, where they were talking about memories and what they could remember, and of course, Dylan wouldn't stop talking about a past life of his. Could it be...? No, no, it was too silly, too ridiculous. But, was it?

John paused at the elevator door, and he texted Rene.

 _"When are you coming back?"_

He stepped into the elevator and then checked his phone when he got a reply.

 _"We are on our way back,"_

The van pulled up to the curb, and the two men stepped out.

Scout leaned into the driver's side to talk to Tracer. "So you're busy tonight, right?"

"Yes, yes," Tracer waved him off. "I think it's best you spend the rest of your day here, you've done a lot today,"

"Yeah, and I can do more tomorrow!" he winked at her. "And the day after, and the day after that-"

"Dylan," Spy called, beckoning his son.

Scout just grinned at Tracer, springing up. "See ya!"

"You too!" she waited for him to walk away, and then sighed. "Damn it...I'll have to tell him at some point,"

Rain began to pour down, so Scout and Spy entered the building with much haste to avoid getting wet. As they headed for the elevator, Scout piped, "So, you really remember everything?"

Spy rolled his eyes, pressing the elevator button. "For the last time, yes. You don't need to keep asking,"

They stepped into the empty elevator side by side, and Scout asked another question. "If you remember everything, can you tell me somethin'?"

"What?"

"Did you..." Scout paused and then tried again. "Did you hate me back then?"

Spy looked appalled. "Of course not! Why would you think that!?"

"Oh, I don't know," Scout tried not to make eye contact. "Just...a lot of things used to make me think that,"

"Well, I didn't hate you then and I don't hate you now," he tried to sound reassuring, but he mostly sounded annoyed.

The elevator doors opened, and they made their way to their room. "You ain't just sayin' that to be nice, are ya?" Scout wondered, his voice a little softer.

Spy stared down at the room key in his hand before pushing it against the screen. "Everything I've said to you is the truth,"

They entered the room, with Spy announcing, "We're back,"

"Thank God," breathed John, rising up from the couch. "I need to talk to you two,"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

 _"Doctors are dubbing this epidemic as 'Black Flu', and according to the Center for Disease Control it is currently being studied and a vaccine will be in production once the studies are completed. In the meantime, those afflicted are encouraged to treat the illness as if it were an average cold or flu, and patients are advised not to be alarmed by the black marks the illness leaves behind-"_

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave this on!" Mercy switched the TV off, smiling at the patient on the cot. "Your test results are surprisingly good, although your blood pressure is slightly high,"

Heavy only nodded, his eyes still fixated on the blank screen. Mercy continued.

"There is one thing, though: you never told me how old you were,"

"Sister and I stopped keeping track after a long time," he responded quietly.

Mercy considered this. "So, you're telling me you don't know how old you are?"

He shrugged.

"Well, when's your birthday?"

"Oh," Heavy winced at the memory. "It was...in May. The 20th of May, 2043,"

Mercy nodded, writing this down. "And how old were you when you were taken?"

"Twelve,"

"I see," she quickly did the math, making a note to check the Missing Person database for the year 2055, and she beamed up at him. "You are thirty-five years old,"

Thirty-five! Something in Heavy's chest seemed to drop when he heard this. Had he and his sister really been in captivity for twenty-three years?

"Can you answer me this, though?" Mercy spoke up again, getting his attention. "How are you so incredibly strong? I suspected there was some steroid use involved, but there doesn't appear to be any traces of that in your bloodstream,"

"I have not been given steroids since..." he tried to remember. "Since I was a young boy. They made me and sister sick. Barbie stopped putting them in my food after I got bigger, but sister had them until she matured,"

Mercy thought this over. "Who is this 'Barbie' you keep mentioning?"

"She is a witch," Heavy seethed, clenching his fists. "A villain. When we came to the bad place, she told us to call her 'mama', but we would not. She was no mother, and she would never be one. She made us lift things, fight robots and do strength tests,"

"You were being experimented on," Mercy realized.

"Yes," Heavy remarked. "Experiments. Did not know what for, but now I know. Barbie wants to make us into living weapons, just like she did when in my first life,"

Mercy's brow creased in confusion. "First life? Oh- wait, you mean- you mean when you were born the first time like you said," Mercy didn't fully believe in the idea of reincarnation, but it was best to just go along with what he was saying at the moment.

"She has not changed, not at all," Heavy shook his head. "Using others is all she does,"

Mercy reached out and placed a comforting hand on the broad shoulder. "Well, we're going to stop her. We've added this to our list of missions to complete,"

Heavy glanced up, smiling gently. "Thank you, doctor,"

Now came the part that she dreaded: telling him what they planned to do with him. She knew he wouldn't be happy.

"In the meantime," she took a breath, wringing her hands. "We need somewhere for you to stay,"

Heavy looked perplexed. "I believed I would stay here?"

"No...listen to me: we can't keep you here. It just isn't safe or ideal for anyone. I've been talking with some other agents, and they agree that, until we figure out what's going on, it's best for you to stay in a mental hospital-"

"No!" Heavy barked, making Mercy jump. "No, you will not! I will not go! You will not make me!"

Mercy tried to plead with him. "Please, listen to me, we're only trying to help-"

"You are not!" Heavy's voice got louder, so loud it made Mercy's whole body clench in fear. "You are not helping me by putting me there! If you care, you will let me stay and help me save my sister!"

"Please calm down!" Mercy put a hand on him again. She tried to sound comforting, but her voice wavered. "I want to help you, I really do,"

Heavy glared at her, a fierce determination behind his eyes. "Then do not put me in the hospital,"

Mercy stared into his eyes in silence, and she rose up. "I'll be right back," she murmured, exiting the room.

She headed for the kitchen, just where she thought she'd find Jack. He stood over the kitchen counter, watching Ana and Pharah roll up pastry dough while chatting with both of them.

"Jack?" Mercy began as she entered, getting his attention. "Do you still have that empty storage unit?"

Jack seemed perplexed at the question. "I do. Why?"

"It's the man we have in custody," Mercy explained with a sigh. "He refuses to go to the hospital, so my thought is we could just move him in there for now,"

"Angela," Jack began, rising up. "I really don't think that's a good idea,"

"And why not?" Mercy wanted to know. "Jack, the man is suffering, and if we want to help his sister we'll need assistance from him,"

Jack groaned. "Oh, no, we got wrapped up in his business, too? We've already got Talon and the Nomads to deal with-"

"Jack!" snapped Ana. "Listen to you talk! That doesn't sound like you! This man came from a terrible place full of terrible people, and you just want to turn a blind eye to that?"

"Exactly," Pharah agreed with her mother. "Besides, there could be more victims other than this man and his sister,"

There was a pause, and Jack sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry. I...I wasn't thinking," he tapped his finger absent-mindedly on the counter before confirming, "The storage unit still has a few crates in it and it has to be vacuumed, but once you do that it should be okay to use,"

Mercy breathed a breath of relief. "Oh, thank you, Jack. I'll get someone on that right away,"

It was 3:30 in the afternoon.

Spy blew a bit of vapor from his pen, his finger tapping against the table. "That is...quite a story, John,"

John had told them everything: his encounter with Widowmaker, the bloody showers, the tall figure, and meeting Engineer. He wrung his hands, rather anxious. "I mean...I never believed in reincarnation, but you and the kid have been talking about it, and now all this has happened-"

"I understand," Spy nodded. "I know what it is you're experiencing,"

John's eyes widened. "Wait- was that happened this morning? When you freaked out?"

Spy sighed. "Yes, yes. My experience wasn't exactly the same, yet I felt a presence the same way you did. Obviously, a higher power is at work here,"

Ferguson, who had joined the conversation mere moments ago, pensively swirled around his drink in its bottle. "Wonder why I'm not rememberin' anything,"

"You might later," Scout shrugged. "Maybe the creepy shadow dude's gonna go for you next,"

Spy exhaled some vapor, leaning back in his chair. "I would hate to keep bothering your omnic friend, Dylan, but-"

"Actually," Scout held up his phone, looking very proud of himself. "I did my research, and I found a music track thingy that's supposed to help do what Zenyatta does! We can do it by ourselves,"

"Oh?" Spy took the phone, his brow furrowing. "All you do is play the music?"

"There's more to it than that," Scout clarified. "Ya gotta sit in the dark and listen to it, kinda like when Zenyatta puts that blanket on our eyes. They call this, uh..." Scout tried to read the name off of the screen. "'Cognitive guidance'? Yeah," he looked up at John and Ferguson. "You guys wanna give it a shot?"

John and Ferguson exchanged glances. Ferguson took a long swig from his bottle and set it down. "Sure! Why not?"

Spy stood up, heading for the closet. "Try it in here, you two,"

"I'll pull the track up!" Scout chirped, scrolling through his phone.

Right at this moment, an unknown number began calling, and Scout paused, staring at the screen. Although it was a local number, he answered hesitantly.

"Hello?"

"Hey!" a sing-song yet quivering voice responded. "Hey, Scout, it's Mei! I got your number from Tracer,"

"Oh!" of course, Mei. Her voice was rather shaky over the phone, which made Scout think she wasn't used to phoning conversations. "Hi, Mei. How's it goin'?"

"It's going great! Listen, I found out where that symbol your dad drew came from,"

Scout took a seat on the couch, gesturing to his father that he'd be done with this call soon. "Okay, cool! Where's it from?"

Mei cleared her throat and began. "The picture is the logo of a company called 'Summit Labs'. They opened more than a hundred years ago, and they manufactured everything from weapons to household appliances,"

"Summit Labs," Scout murmured, his brow creased in thought. "Yeah...that sounds really familiar,"

Mei went on. "This is where it gets interesting, though: Summit stopped operation right before the Omnic Crisis, and they were bought out by Vishkar Corporation a little while later,"

"Vishkar?" Scout knew that name. They were that shadowy company the media seemed to talk about a lot. "Wait, wait, wait: if Summit gave us those Black Flu samples, and Vishkar bought Summit, does that mean...Vishkar caused Black Flu?

He could almost hear Mei shrugging over the phone. "Honestly? That's what it looks like, but we'd need more proof before we say for certain,"

"Damn," Scout leaned back in the couch, thinking over everything. "I feel like I'm in one of those conspiracy theory shows,"

Mei giggled. "You mean like 'Lifting the Veil'?"

"You've seen that, too!?" Scout exclaimed, jolting upright. "I thought I was the only one who watched that!"

"Yeah, it used to come on late at night, back when I lived at my old apartment!" there was the squeak of a chair, indicating that Mei had stood up. "Remember when they would have the ghost sighting reports?"

"Oh, my God, yeah! Those were so fake! But remember that one episode, the one with, the...um- shit! I can't remember what's it called: the weird things that eat people?"

Mei gasped in recognition. "The Wendigo special! That one gave me the creeps,"

"Really? Pretty sure that was a guy in a costume-"

"Scout!" Spy called. "Are you almost finished?"

Scout jolted. "Uh- yeah, yeah. Hey, I gotta go,"

"Okay!" Mei answered quickly. "Okay, see you later?"

"Yeah, I'll see ya around. Bye!" he hung up, a little reluctantly, and stood up. "Geez, dad, you could've waited like another minute!"

Moments later, John and Ferguson sat shoulder to shoulder in the coat closet with ambient music playing on Scout's phone. Neither of them spoke as they sat in the darkness.

"So," John spoke up, his voice quiet. "Any idea when it's supposed to kick in?"

"Nah," Ferguson shrugged. "We'll find out soon,"

There was another pause, and John remarked thoughtfully, "Maybe Rene and Dylan are just lunatics and this really isn't anything at all,"

"No, no," Ferguson dispelled the idea. "We're givin' it a shot, aye? That makes us all nuts in the head,"

Johns only response was a light chuckle. "Yeah, yeah,"

The ambiance seemed to drone on and on until John could hear Ferguson's breathing slow down, indicating he'd fallen asleep. John's eyelids began to droop, and he soon found himself getting sucked into sleep.

It felt like only a few seconds had passed when John opened his eyes again, finding himself on a wood floor. He pushed himself up, looking around in confusion.

He was in a small camper, and he knew what it was right away: his camper. His home. John stood up, roaming around before tentatively unlocking the door.

As he stepped out, he noticed Ferguson a few feet away. "Ferguson!"

Ferguson's head jerked in his direction, and they met up within seconds.

"Where are we?" Ferguson wanted to know, concern present in his voice.

"We're..." John trailed off, looking towards the base. "We're back,"

Everything was eerily quiet, and both men felt a sense of foreboding. Despite their intuitions, they headed for the base.

Ferguson opened the door, taking a small step forward. "Hey! Anyone there?" he called out. No response.

John wandered around the building, observing how it looked as though it hadn't aged a day. Rather, the base was frozen in some strange limbo, and everything was how both men remembered it.

They split up, with Ferguson exploring the workshop. He ran his hand along a crate of explosives and then proceeded to kneel beside it, undoing the latch.

"Bloody beautiful," he remarked to himself, cracking a smile at the piles of TNT.

He reached for a stick, only to jump in surprise when a voice behind him spoke up. "They won't work here,"

Ferguson whirled around, coming face to face with a tall, dark figure. The stranger smiled at him. "Though, I find it amusing that your petty obsession leaked into this life,"

"Do I know you?" was all Ferguson could think of to say. This person seemed vaguely familiar...

Before the figure could answer, John came walking in with a crossbow. "Look what I found-" he froze when he saw the stranger, and he immediately aimed the weapon. "What are you doing here!?"

"Oh, Sniper," the figure sighed. "So naive. None of the weapons you find will hurt me, so you might as well set it down,"

Sniper still held on to the weapon, his hand quivering. After a moment, he inquired, "Did you have anythin' to do with all this?"

"Why would you think that?"

"In the showers, with the blood, earlier today- that was you, wasn't it?"

Merasmus seemed amused at the question. "Look at you: such a detective. Yes, I was there, and yes- I've been helping you and your other friends remember who they really are,"

"But...why?"

"Hmm, I'm afraid I can't tell you why. Not at the moment, at least," he turned to look at Ferguson, who only stared at him with a blank expression. "Keep staring, dear Demoman, and I'll take your other eye,"

Sniper shook his head, trying to collect himself. "Can...can you answer one thing for us?"

Merasumus tilted his head in question. "And what would that be?"

"Can you tell us where Medic is?"

There was a long pause, and Merasmus drew back. "Ooh...are you sure? You will only have a limited understanding of what you will see, and it will be an event that has already passed,"

"What are you talking about? Just...can we see him?"

"Fine," sighed Merasumus, lifting his right hand. "You will see soon enough,"

The scene changed rather abruptly. Merasmus was gone, and the two men found themselves standing in the middle of a snowy parking lot under the night sky.

A man ran towards the parking lot, something clutched in his arms. As he got closer, they recognized him: it was Medic.

He glanced over his shoulder, and then ducked down next to a truck, wincing a little at some unseen discomfort as he pressed whatever was wrapped in a towel against his chest. A group of men with flashlights entered the scene, muttering to each other while looking through various car windows.

A pitiful whimpering came from the towel and Medic frantically soothed the cries by rocking the little, swaddled creature in his arm. The sight of a small, pinkish hand writhing out within the fabric confirmed it was a newborn baby.

As the group of searching men strayed away from where Medic crouched, Medic sprang up and ran for the woods behind the parking lot.

Sniper's eyes flew open, the chill from the snowy parking lot still tingling his body. He looked around, seeing the dark of the closet surrounding him, and he prodded the man sitting beside him. "D-Demo?"

"I'm here, lad," came the low response. There was a brief silence, an understanding that they'd both seen the same things.

The music track had ended, and Sniper grabbed the phone, pushing the closet door open.

Scout and Spy turned around when they heard the stirring, and Scout asked, "What happened?"

Sniper inhaled, recollecting everything. "It's...it's a lot to take in, so be prepared,"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

5:00 PM.

Winston was clearing off his computer desk when he felt a gentle tapping on his shoulder. He turned around, pleasantly surprised when he saw Brigette standing there.

"Hey!" he greeted cheerfully. "I'm so glad you came!"

"I'm glad I'm here!" she grinned, holding up a Tupperware container. "I brought cheese potatoes!"

Winston clapped his hands. "Awesome! You can put those right in the kitchen. Is your father here?"

Brigette's smile faltered, though she tried to sound positive. "No, he had work to do. So sorry,"

"No, no, it's fine," Winston pushed a stray book into the bookshelf. "When are the two of you going to stay here, in the base?"

"Soon! I promise," Brigette tried to assure. "Moving is not an easy task,"

Winston nodded. "Oh, I totally understand that. It's just...it's better to have everyone here, in one place. Come on," he headed for the doorway and beckoned her. "Do you need to heat the potatoes up?"

"No, they're warm enough," Brigette answered.

In the kitchen, Junkrat leaned over the counter and watched Ana lay the hand pies on the tray.

"What are those, again?" Junkrat asked, wrinkling his nose.

"Hand pies," Ana didn't look up as she picked a piece of stray dough off of the countertop. She pushed him away gently when he tried to get a closer look. "Don't breathe germs on them,"

"They made of hands?" he wanted to know.

Ana couldn't help but laugh. "No! No, half of them have spinach and cheese, while the others have just spinach,"

Junkrat gagged. "Plain spinach!? Ya might as well eat leaves from outside, you animal!"

"Hush," Ana retrieved a set of plates and handed them off to him. "Could you set the table?"

Just then, Brigette entered, and Junkrat perked right up. "Oi, Brigette!"

"Hello, Rat!" Brigette reached up and playfully ruffled his tufts of blonde hair. "How is the trash man?"

"I'm just dandy!" Junkrat beamed, waving the plates around. "You would not believe what I have been up to-"

Ana jumped in, snatching the plates away. "You know what, Jamie? You're making me nervous with the plates. I'll set the table," she turned to smile at Brigette. "Hello, dear. What did you bring?"

"Cheese potatoes!"

"Oh, lovely! Put them right on the counter for now,"

As Brigette obliged, Junkrat turned his attention to Winston. "Gorilla man!"

Winston glared. "I told you not to call me that,"

"Yeah, yeah. Listen, Roadie told me to tell you that he's gonna sit dinner out for tonight-"

"What?" Winston shook his head in surprise. "But...why?"

Junkrat shrugged. "I dunno, ask him,"

This troubled Winston greatly, so he made his way to the room Junkrat and Roadhog shared. He rang the doorbell once before he heard Roadhog call from within, "Who is it?"

"It's Winston! Can we talk?"

There was a pause. "Yeah," Roadhog decided finally.

Winston entered, walking in to see Roadhog sitting on the bed while drawing on his sketchpad. The TV played an old Western movie.

"What's going on, Mako?" Winston asked, sounding concerned. "Do you really just want to stay in your room all the time?"

"Yeah,"

"Is something wrong?"

Roadhog looked up, seeming to make eye contact with Winston through his mask. "I'm dying, that's what's wrong,"

"No!" Winston attempted to sit on the edge of the bed but decided against it. "Mako, nobody's dying,"

"I have Black Flu," Roadhog went on. "I saw on the news that people have died from Black Flu already. I'm next,"

"No, you're not. We're going to figure this out-"

"How?" Roadhog went back to drawing. "By getting that kid to find the doctor bloke for us?"

Winston went silent for a second. "Oh," he realized. "You mean Scout? Yeah, he's not..." Winston's voice lowered slightly. "He probably doesn't even know what he's talking about,"

"I never said that," Roadhog clarified. "I mean that I looked up the guy he's talking about and apparently he was a whackjob. Not even a doctor, lost his medical license,"

"I didn't know that,"

There was a pause, and Winston cleared his throat. "Anyway, it would mean a lot if you joined us. You're a part of this team, too,"

"Not tonight, sorry," Roadhog's body jerked, and he started to cough.

Winston hesitated, then reached forward to touch the mask. "Do you need-?"

"I've got it," Roadhog mumbled between coughs, fiddling with his mask. He took several deep breaths, then went back to sketching. "Go have fun, don't worry about me,"

"All right," Winston turned to go, reluctantly. "Hopefully you'll join us next time,"

Roadhog only made a small sound in agreement.

Within a storage unit outside the base, Zarya knelt down to hook up a humidifier to the wall.

"Do you need help?" Heavy asked in Russian as he stood over her.

Zarya shook her head. "It's fine, I can do it," she straightened up, taking a look at the interior. "It looks nice in here, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes," Heavy looked rather pleased, glancing around the area. "Although," he mused. "It is a bit dark,"

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Zarya turned to a headlamp and reached for the switch. "You will need this light-" she switched it on, only to hear Heavy inhale sharply from behind her.

She turned around just in time to see him clambering onto the bed, raising a chair above his head with a look of pure terror reflected in his dark eyes. Zarya stood still for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. He acted like he was about to lunge at her, so she did the first thing that came to her mind and turned off the lamp.

"Put the chair down," she coaxed him gently, her hand hovering over the taser on her belt.

Heavy seemed to snap out of whatever had locked him in this state, and he looked embarrassed. "I...I am so sorry," he laid the chair down, sinking onto the bed.

"It's all right," Zarya sat beside him, a look of concern on her face. "Was it the lamp?"

"Yes," he nodded. "It's...it's like the lamp Ken used when he..." he trailed off, looking away.

"You do not need to tell me," Zarya unhooked the lamp from the wall. "I will get you a dimmer one, do not worry,"

"Thank you," he murmured as she placed a heap of clothes on the bed.

"These should be enough for now," she told him. "If you need any more, let us know,"

Heavy smiled weakly up at her, gratefully taking the clothes. "You are too kind,"

"It is my job," she smiled back. "It is my job to help,"

5:45.

Scout watched Sniper fry some fish cutlets on the grill with an unamused expression.

"This is takin' forever," Scout sighed finally. "You sure ya don't want me to run by that burger joint downtown?"

"We're not eatin' out every night, boy," Sniper explained to him as if he were a child. "That shit costs money. 'Sides, the fish are almost done,"

Scout sat down at the picnic table, leaning his chin in his hand as Spy set something in a clear container down.

"What!?" Scout exclaimed, picking his head up. "Are those green beans!? Who the hell bought those?"

"I did," Spy told him rather matter of factly. "They're good and you're going to have some,"

Demo just laughed as he poured some drinks. "I swear, yer still a lil' kid on the inside!" he handed Scout a plastic cup. "Here ya are,"

"Not a kid," Scout mumbled, making a face as Spy heaped spoonfuls of green beans on the paper plates.

Sniper eventually returned to the table with the grilled fish, and soon the four of them were crowded around the picnic table and enjoying dinner outside. After about a minute, Scout looked up and remarked, "So...what now?"

"Hmm?" Spy didn't look up. "What do you mean?"

"We're gonna forget that we know Medic is out there and is probably in trouble?"

"We haven't forgotten, lad," Demo assured him. "We're just taking a break from it, all right?"

Sniper joined in. "Yeah, and what Merasmus showed us already happened. Medic also looked pretty young there, didn't you think?" when Demo nodded in agreement, Sniper went on. "He might not be in danger anymore,"

"'Course, there had to be a reason the old wizard showed us that bit in particular," Demo mused aloud.

Scout picked at the fish with his fork, then spoke again. "That's the other thing- why is Merasmus doin' all this? I thought he hated us,"

"You know what I think?" Sniper took a sip of his drink and set the cup down. "He needs us for something,"

Spy cut in, sounding agitated. "Can we eat the food while it's still hot? Please? We can talk about this later,"

The table went silent, and only small conversations commenced for the rest of the meal.

6:00.

"So far, we have only had one encounter with Overwatch since we moved here, and no one was killed. An agent was shot, but not killed,"

"An Overwatch agent? Or one of your agents?"

"An Overwatch agent," Doomfist clarified. "Our sniper hit said agent in the arm but the wound was not fatal,"

The shrouded figure nodded on the screen. "I see. Next time, tell your sniper she has permission to kill an Overwatch agent. The more the conflict you create with them, the better. It will distract them from the Nomads,"

Doomfist gave a curt nod. "Understood,"

"May I interject?" Moira spoke up. "Exactly, how long do we have before the next step?"

"A week," the figure responded. "If that is not enough time for you-"

"It is," Reaper assured. "Do not worry, Ms. Hilton,"

The figure chuckled. "Please, call me Barbie. I will call back tomorrow afternoon to check on your progress,"

The video call ended, and Doomfist straightened up. "A week. How much can we do in a week?"

"Oh, just enough," Reaper pulled up a document from the laptop. "Come, come and see the plans I made,"

The blow dryer whirred to life as Widowmaker watched herself hover it over her damp hair in the mirror. Sombra sat beside her, staring into her own mirror as she re-applied her makeup. "So...you left him in the showers?"

"Yes," Widowmaker answered, lifting up a lock of hair to blow air beneath it. "I put water on, thinking perhaps he would drown,"

Sombra scoffed, shaking her bottle of setting spray and spritzing a generous amount on her face. "Well, clearly that didn't work! He was right in front of your face, you could have shot him!"

"I did not feel like it," Widowmaker affirmed. "He was not a threat, I realized," she turned off the blow dryer, fluffing her hair up. "I also..." she trailed off, bringing her hands together to fiddle with them.

"You what?" Sombra paused, looking at the other woman quizzically.

"I also found him rather handsome," Widowmaker admitted. "It would be a shame to destroy him,"

Sombra's mouth fell open in disbelief. "Wow! You, of all women, spared a dude because you thought he was hot!?" she couldn't help but giggle. "Looks like we need to send you back to the lab to have your feelings drained again!"

Widowmaker turned to glare at Sombra. "Silence or I will kill you," she mimicked shooting a gun with her fingers. "One shot, one kill,"

The door opened, and a young woman shuffled in. Her feet dragged as she passed Sombra and Widowmaker, although they didn't seem to notice her as she headed for the showers.

She stripped her employee's uniform away, laying it on the bench as she reached for the shower's handle. As the water started up, Widowmaker finally turned to look and squinted in the woman's direction.

"Who is that?"

"Hmm?" Sombra looked up, putting her lipstick away. "Oh, that's Karen. She works here, she knows we're here,"

"Ah," Widowmaker looked at her face from different angles in the mirror, and she pulled her shirt's hem up slightly. "I look fine. Wh-"

Before she could finish, a pained horrified screaming broke out from the showers. Sombra shot up, rushing to see what was wrong.

"Hey!" she called out. "What's all the noise!?"

She stopped when she saw Karen lying on the shower floor, stark naked and soaking wet. Karen shrieked and waved her hands at nothing, shouting, "Get away from me! Don't touch me!"

Widowmaker entered, briskly shutting the water off and grabbing Karen's shoulders. "Stop yelling,"

Karen only writhed, yelling, "I'll kill you! The Administrator will kill you! Get your hands off me!"

"Stop!" Widowmaker's voice pitched, which was unusual for her, and she brought her hand down to strike Karen across the face, silencing her.

"Okay, no!" Sombra ushered Widow away, kneeling down and gently helping Karen up. "You okay? You good, chica?"

Karen hyperventilated, her fingers grabbing into Sombra's shirt as she buried her face in her chest. Sombra cringed, feeling the water soaking her shirt, but said nothing.

"I will let David know about this," Widowmaker explained quietly, turning to leave.

After a moment, Karen lifted her head up, looking embarrassed. "Oh...geez, I'm sorry," she backed away, scrambling to her feet and reaching for a towel to cover herself. "I-I got your top all wet,"

Sombra waved her off. "Nah, it'll dry. Don't worry about it. Is everything okay?"

Karen tied the towel around her body, slicking her dark hair back while trying not to make eye contact. "No. I had...some kind of really freaky hallucination," she shuddered. "There were bloody razor blades all around my feet, and some crazy man was staring at me,"

"I didn't see any of that," Sombra confirmed. "Are you on any drugs?"

"No!" Karen sounded offended. "Why would I do LSD at work?"

Sombra snorted. "Okay, okay. You any better, now?"

"No..." Karen seemed to visualize something, and she shook her head, her brow creasing as though she had a headache. "I...I think I need to lay down-"

The door opened again, and David rushed in. "Karen!" he halted right outside the showers, leaning in only a little. "Are ya decent?"

"Um, I have a towel on," Karen responded, tentatively stepping out to look at him. "I-I'm okay, now,"

David squinted at her. "Ya sure? Hon, your nose is bleedin',"

"Wha-?" Karen touched her nose, pulling it away to see a few spots of blood. "Oh...yeah. I guess it is," How'd that happen?

"You need a break. Get your clothes on, I'll be right outside," David smiled reassuringly at her, turning to leave.

Karen dropped the towel once he'd left, reaching for her uniform. "Thanks, uh, what's your name?"

"Call me Sombra," Sombra nodded. "If we're staying here a while, we might as well get to know each other. Of course, if you tell anyone that we're here, I'll have to kill you,"

"That's fair," shrugged Karen, buttoning her top back up. "Sombra...that's Spanish for shadow, right?"

Sombra's face lit up. "Ah, you know Spanish? No solo estás Caliente, también eres inteligente!"

Karen paused. "Yeah...I don't know what you just said. I took Spanish like ten years ago," she cleared her throat. "Well, I gotta go,"

"Okay! I'll see you around!" Sombra watched Karen leave, and she remarked to Widowmaker, "I like her,"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

The whirring of the fan buzzed overhead as the employee hunched over the towels and hummed a tune to go with it. She folded the towels quickly and deliberately since she was very good at what she did.

Just as she'd finished folding the last towel and placing it on the cart, Ember froze when the door burst open.

"Ember!" the man snapped. "Karen's been attacked!"

Ember jolted to attention, and her companion went on. "We should look around for the attacker before anyone else becomes a victim!"

Ember nodded vigorously, abandoning the towels and following the other into the employees' quarters.

Karen was calming down with a cup of tea when the thudding of footsteps sounded behind her.

"Karen! Describe your attacker!"

Karen almost choked on her tea in surprise. "Sully!?" she turned around, seeing her fellow employees standing there. She sighed. "Oh, you two. Sully, Ember, I'm okay. It was just...it was just my brain playing tricks on me,"

"Oh," Sully shifted on his feet, clearly embarrassed but unwilling to admit it. "W-well, someone has to protect you from your brain!"

Karen couldn't help but chuckle. "Of course," she reached up and patted Ember's head. "I'm glad you care, though,"

"Karen? Hon?" David entered the room, clutching a clipboard. "You can go home if ya want. It's well into the evening-"

"It's fine," Karen waved him off, setting her tea down. "I can finish up here,"

David turned his attention to the other two. "Ember, did ya finish those towels?"

Ember shook her head, mumbling something in response and turning to leave.

"And Sully- the vending machine on the fifth floor needs a tune-up,"

Sully huffed. "Stupid machine always needs something! I bet it's foreign, made in China,"

As Sully wandered away while muttering about foreign machines, Karen waited for him to get out of earshot, and she sighed. "How much longer, David?"

"Just until I can find someone who knows what they're doin'," David assured. "But, hey, they've made a lot of progress! Ember doesn't wear that dirty old mask as much, and Sully doesn't rattle off about fightin' in wars from hundreds of years ago, so they're comin' along..." he trailed off, seeing the look on Karen's face. "You okay, Karen?"

Karen stared ahead into nothing for a few seconds, and then cleared her throat. "Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine," she rose from her chair, setting her teacup to the side. "I should probably go to the front desk,"

"Okay," David started to pick up the floor.

Karen paused in the doorway, and she turned to look at David. "David?"

"Yeah?"

She bit her lip, rocking uneasily. "I don't like what we've been doing,"

David tilted his head. "Huh?"

"We're keeping a terrorist organization here," Karen's voice was low. "We've committed treason,"

There was a pause, and David went back to what he was doing. "It's this or getting blow up, sweetheart,"

Karen pursed her lips together, and she removed her glasses from her pocket with a flick of her wrist, sliding them up the bridge of her nose before pushing the door open.

Sully dragged the toolbox closer to him as he knelt beside the vending machine, grumbling, "What's the problem now, stupid machine? Ah...I see,"

As he fiddled with the machine, the elevator doors opened. Scout stepped out, walking past the vending machine while looking at his phone.

"Hey, Soldier," he greeted without looking up.

Sully froze, and he turned around. Scout realized what he had said, and he slowed to a stop. He glanced over his shoulder, and they made eye contact.

"Soldier!" Scout shoved his phone into his pocket and jogged to the vending machine. "I was wonderin' if I'd find ya! How are you..." he trailed off, becoming aware of the situation. "Wait...you probably don't remember me,"

"Scout!" Soldier barked suddenly, standing up. "No, no, I remember,"

"Ya do? That's great!" Scout reached over and grabbed the other man's hand while intending to shake it, yet he was pleasantly surprised when Soldier just squeezed his hand warmly. Scout took a moment to look Soldier up and down. "Do you...work here?"

Soldier gave a curt nod. "Yes! I do,"

"Okay! I'm just kinda surprised. You don't seem like the hotel type- no offense,"

"It wasn't my choice," Soldier explained. "I got saddled with Engie and Pyro, but of course _they_ don't know who they are-"

Scout cut in. "Whoa, whoa, wait! Slow down- I knew Engie was here, but Pyro? How'd you all end up here? I gotta know!"

Soldier quickly set his tools down, beckoning Scout to some chairs by the window. "Sit! Let's talk about it,"

Once Scout was seated, Soldier gave a brief backstory: "I got put in a crazy home two years back, because I remembered, see? They couldn't handle me! Anyway, I met Engie and Pyro there, and I knew who they were but they didn't know me. Engie got let out first, got a job here and they came back for us and made us work here,"

"Crazy home?" Scout muttered aloud. "Oh! Like a group home?"

"Yes!"

"Why was Engie there?"

Soldier shrugged. "I don't know. Pyro can't talk that well and she set fires at her community college, but Engie's a mystery,"

There was a pause as Scout processed this information. "Pyro's a she!?"

"Yeah, I was surprised too,"

"How'd you know it was her?"

Soldier only laughed. "Seriously? She couldn't talk and they locked her up for setting fires. How'd you think I knew?"

Scout chuckled back. "Yeah...that makes sense," he had another thought, and asked, "What made you remember everything?"

"I..." Soldier rocked back and forth, wringing his hands. After a moment, he admitted, "I woke up one day and knew," he straightened up, getting bolder. "And I realized I always knew! I didn't belong in that factory with those men, I belonged back on the battlefield!"

"Yeah, ya do, pal!" Scout cheered on. "Factory? That ain't you!"

"It sure isn't!" Soldier leaped up, jumping on the chair. "What are you doing these days, kid!?"

Scout yelled back, "Just uncoverin' government secrets an' shit!"

"You gonna let me in on those secrets, boy!?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Scout jumped to his feet and saluted, playing along.

Just then, a buzzing sound came from a device on Soldier's belt, and a familiar voice came through. "Sully, what's all the yellin'!? I just got a complaint through the system!"

"Shut up!" Soldier shouted at the device.

Scout giggled, gesturing. "Lemme see that," Soldier handed him the device, and Scout took it. "Hey...Engineer?"

"Wh-? Sully, who is that!? Do I have to come up there!?"

"Yeah!" Scout snickered. "I-I need a dispenser, here!"

Soldier howled with laughter as the device switched off. "He's gonna be pissed!"

"Yeah, yeah," Scout turned his attention to the vending machine. "Does that work? I want some Cheetos,"

"Hang on!" Soldier jumped down from the chair and went to the toolbox, poking something into the gears. The machine suddenly whirred to life, lighting up, and Soldier gave an affirmative nod. "Yep!"

Scout grinned, fishing out his wallet. "Cool! Thanks, bud,"

A few minutes later, the elevator doors opened once more. David strode out, a look of annoyance written across his face.

"You better have a mighty fine excuse for your behavior, Sully," David growled.

"Hey, don't talk to him like that!" Scout jumped in, shoving some Cheetos in his mouth. "He ain't your kid!"

David turned to glare at Scout. "And who are you-" he shook his head. "You know what? It doesn't matter. C'mon, Sully, your shift's over for the night,"

"I'll decide when my shift's over, Engineer!" Soldier fired back, and David groaned.

"Oh, God, not this again," he grabbed Soldier by the arm. "Let's get you medicated-"

"He ain't crazy!" Scout pursued the two as David ushered Soldier to the elevator. "I remember all those same things, and so can you! If you would just listen-"

David whirled around, giving a fierce glare right before the doors closed. "I'm gonna have you out of this place by mornin' if you don't piss off,"

The doors shut, and Scout sighed, defeated. "Damn...so close,"

Soldier wouldn't pipe down, even as David briskly escorted him to the employees' quarters. "You have no right, Engie! Unhand me, now!"

"It's gonna be all right," David grabbed a water bottle off of the table and a case of pills, shaking a pill into his hand. "Here: take your pill,"

"No," Soldier snapped back. "No more pills!"

"Sully," David gritted his teeth, trying not to lose his temper. "You need your medication,"

David tried to offer Soldier the pill, but Soldier refused, crossing his arms. "Get that out of my face, maggot!"

"Sully!" David yelled suddenly, slamming his fist on the table. "Do you not understand!? Do you want to be sent back to the home!?"

"No!" Soldier shouted back.

"No, you don't understand!?"

"No!"

"No, _what!?_ "

Soldier grabbed the pill out of David's hand, flinging it across the room. " _No_!"

The pill landed on the carpet, and there was a long silence. Soldier flopped down on the couch, curling up and covering his face.

David sighed, sitting beside him. "Sorry, buddy. Look, I know it ain't easy, but you're bein' very brave,"

"Of course I'm brave," muttered Soldier.

David chuckled, leaning down and retrieving the pill. "I know you are. Here," he handed him the pill and the water bottle. "You'll feel better after this,"

Soldier reluctantly popped the pill into his mouth, sipping the water. David smiled at him. "Good, lemme get you somethin' to eat, hm? You must be starving,"

As David stood up and went to the door, Soldier turned around and spit the pill into the trashcan without him seeing.

David walked into the kitchen, rooting around in the cabinets. "Heya, Ember," he greeted the young woman at the kitchen counter. "Have you eaten yet, hon?"

Ember did not respond, and she didn't even look at him. David turned towards her, shutting the cabinet door. "Ember?"

She was staring up at something on the wall, her eyes wide with fear. David's brow furrowed, his vision slowly trailing up to what she was looking at.

He nearly fell backward in shock.

Upon the wall, there was a painting of a boy drinking a milkshake. It had always been there, ever since David had begun working there, but something was very wrong with it: the eyes were dripping with blood and the milkshake had gone from pink to dark red.

David took a moment to collect himself, and he leaned down to talk to Ember. "You see that, too?"

Ember nodded, a small whine escaping her lips. David breathed in deeply, straightening up and hesitantly reaching out to touch the blood. It was fake, right? It had to be.

Oh...it wasn't. It was very real. David stared at the blood staining his finger, and then back at the painting. "Who...?"

Instantly, blood splashed from the painting like a wave, bursting forth and coating David. Ember let out a shriek of horror as David collapsed on his back.

David coughed, struggling to his feet and motioning for Ember to get away. "G-go! Go get help!"

Ember dashed away, and David wiped the blood from his eyes and mouth just in time to hear Ember cry out again. His head jerked up, and he was met with the sight of a tall, dark figure grabbing Ember's arm and holding her favorite comfort item, an old gas mask, right over her head.

"You dropped this, Pyro," the figure was saying to her.

David acted quickly. _"Leave her alone!"_ he snatched up a meat cleaver, throwing it in the figure's direction, only to have the stranger seemingly vanish.

The knife clattered to the floor, along with the gas mask, and Ember fell to her knees, her chest heaving as she sobbed. David trembled, looking down at his hands to see that all the blood was gone. He took a moment to glance at the picture, seeing that it was back to normal.

"Ember," he murmured finally, kneeling down and putting his arms around her. "Embie, it's okay, baby, it's all over,"

Ember's sobs simmered down into a whimper, and she reached for her mask. She paused for a moment, waiting for David to stop her, and when he didn't she slipped the mask over her head.

Normally, David tried to get Ember to refrain from wearing that ratty old mask. She'd found it during a visit to the antique store a year earlier, and she hadn't parted with it since. She always seemed to get breakouts or blemishes on her skin whenever she wore it, so David tried in vain to get her to stop the habit. Yet...as he lay on the floor with her, comforting her, he had an understanding that she must wear it. It was part of who she really was.

She pressed against his shoulder, and he patted her back. "You're okay, sweetie,"

"What happened!?" Karen came running in, pausing at the scene before her. "Did something happen to Ember?"

"Um..." David took a breath, glancing down at the sobbing girl on his lap and then back up at Karen. "I should...probably ask you about somethin',"

A few floors up, Scout entered the hotel room and announced, "Everyone's here! All we need is Medic, and-" he paused, seeing Spy, Demo, and Sniper all sitting around with concerned expressions on their faces. "...is everything okay?"

"The good news is," Spy began slowly, rising up. "We've found Medic,"

"Really!?" Scout's voice pitched with excitement. "That's-!"

"You'd better sit down," Sniper advised quietly. "This isn't a good thing,"

Scout slowly lowered himself down on the bed, his heart beginning to sink. "What?"

Spy paced around, all eyes on him, waiting for him to break the bad news. "Scout, do you remember when we would watch those True Crime shows?"

Scout scoffed. "How could I forget?"

"And do you remember the Adel Heinz case?"

"Adel Heinz..." Scout's brow creased as he winced at the memory. "Oh, yeah...that guy! He was the, uh, the medical student who killed his family-"

The realization struck Scout like a rock smashing a window, and he went silent. His mind went blank, and he couldn't speak.

"He gets executed in two days," Spy's voice faltered, and he made a move towards Scout. "Dylan, I'm sorry-"

Scout whirled around and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. Spy hovered near the door, and he put his hands over his face. "Oh, God..."

"Maybe we can get to him in time," Demo tried to sound hopeful, but the other two weren't paying him any attention.

Hope seemed impossible.

* * *

 **Hey, everyone! Sorry, this chapter's kinda short, but I thought I'd get an update out before I had to do family stuff this weekend.**

 **Anyway, I hope you've all been enjoying this so far! I've worked very hard on it, so thank you all for showing your support with your reviews, favorites and follows.**

 **Feedback is very much appreciated!**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

 **Content warning: there's some gore right at the beginning. It doesn't last for too long, but it's there.**

"C'mon, Harambe!" Junkrat chided, waving a couch cushion in the air. "We ain't got all evenin' for you to play your stupid lil' DVD!"

Thunder boomed outside as Winston turned to look at Junkrat with a glare. "Call me that again and I'm throwing you out for the rest of the night,"

"You-aren't-gonna-do-shit!" Junkrat chanted between claps, only to get Reinhardt's massive hand clamped over his mouth.

"Rat-man, there are children present!" he growled, gesturing to Efi on the floor.

Efi stuck her tongue out at Junkrat, and Junkrat maneuvered away from Reinhardt to snap, "She ain't a child, she's an ankle-bitin' maraca!"

"I know you are but what am I?" Efi teased, jumping up and mimicking Junkrat's posture.

Junkrat snarled, slipping off the couch. "Oh, that does it!" he sprung towards the young girl, playful and not malicious. "Prepare for pain!"

Efi shrieked, zooming behind the couch as Junkrat pursued her. "Ew, I can smell your breath!"

Hana twisted around to watch the chase. "You can take him, Efi!"

"Go, Efi!" Tracer encouraged from where she helped Winston hook up the device.

The little game ended abruptly when another large hand grabbed Junkrat and yanked him back, knocking the wind right out of him. Efi slowed to a halt, seeing it had been Orisa.

"Leave her alone," Orisa was saying.

Efi caught her breath, quickly approaching to diffuse the situation. "Hey, we were just playing-"

"Get your bleedin' metal paw off me!" Junkrat hissed, squirming.

"Oh!" Orisa realized her mistake, releasing him. "Oh, I'm so sorry! You have a tendency to be impulsive, see, so naturally I-"

"Don't touch me!" Junkrat recoiled from the towering robot, creeping back to the couch. "No omnics are allowed to touch me, that's the rule!"

"She's technically not an omnic," Zenyatta spoke up from where he sat on the floor.

Junkrat only glared at him. "I will smash you,"

"Hey, that's enough!" Ana cut in, her voice firm. "Jamie, come and sit next to me or you're getting a sleeping dart in your butt,"

Junkrat grumbled, climbing up on the armchair beside Ana and settling next to her. Pharah, who was on the other side of her mother, made a face. "Ugh, Jamison, you smell like a lawn mower,"

"Hush," Ana told her daughter.

Winston only sighed. "Thanks, Ana," he straightened up, announcing, "Okay, everyone! I got everything hooked up and adapted to fit this TV, so we can finally play the DVD!"

"Who even uses DVDs anymore?" remarked Genji. "You couldn't have bought this online?"

"I couldn't find it anywhere," Winston explained, reaching for the remote. "I watched this a really long time ago, when I was young, and it stuck with me. Luckily, I found the DVD copy at a garage sale a month ago, and now we can finally play it with these adapters!"

Mei picked up the case, squinting at it. "What's it even called? I can't read the cover,"

"It's called _'The Lonely Men'._ It's a very rare sci-fi movie, and it's one of my favorites," Winston grinned when the title screen appeared. "Oh, you're gonna love it!"

The movie began, and it was actually rather interesting. It featured a group of men sent to a seemingly deserted planet, only to discover the planet was actually inhabited by lizard-like creatures. Winston felt a strange euphoria as he watched the others observe the film: maybe this was what could bring everyone together.

However, that was about to change.

Roughly thirty minutes into the movie, a strange ringing noise began in the background. It wasn't noticeable at first, but Lucio was the first to point it out.

"What's that noise?" he winced. "Is that supposed to be in there?"

"What do you mean-" Winston stopped when he heard it as well. "Oh...maybe the disk is damaged,"

Lucio seemed to accept this answer and continued watching. Three minutes later, the screen flickered.

"Uh oh," sighed Tracer. "Winston-"

The scene changed from the spacemen about to go into battle to a shaky camera recording of someone breaking a door down. The screams of a woman could be heard, mingling with the sounds of men shouting and loud footsteps.

The camera moved over to look at someone lying on the floor, revealing it to be the fresh corpse of a woman. She lay on her back, her mouth hanging open, her eyes rolled back, and her body had been sliced clean and gutted.

Everyone started yelling in shock and horror.

"Winston, what is this!?" Mei exclaimed, rushing to cover Efi's eyes. "Did you trick us into watching a snuff film!?"

Lucio clapped his hands over his face, gagging. "That looks way too real!"

Winston just stood there in shock as Tracer raced to the TV, pulling out the plug and watching as the screen clicked to black. A dead silence filled the room, until Junkrat mused, "Wow, my first R-rated movie!"

Shaking, Winston stood up and popped the DVD out, looking it over with a shocked expression. He checked the DVD case before turning to exit the room.

"I-I'm sorry everyone," he apologized. "The night is over,"

"Winston, where did you even get that!?" Tracer demanded to know, following him to his office. "I thought you said it was family-friendly,"

"It is!" barked Winston. "It...it should be," he opened the door, throwing himself in front of his computer. "I got it from a garage sale. The man who sold it to me was, well, eccentric, to say the least," he slipped the DVD into a slot on the computer, typing something. "God, I feel like such an idiot. I didn't preview this beforehand to see if it was all right!"

"You're not an idiot," Tracer tried to assure.

"I am!" Winston groaned, leaning a hand into his face. "All I wanted was to have a fun night, a fun night as a _family_ and not just a team. And now..." he gestured to the computer screen. "Now I need to deal with this,"

"Need help?" Tracer wanted to know, sitting beside him.

Winston shook his head. "Not at the moment. This is something I should do myself,"

"I understand," Tracer nodded, rising up and heading for the door.

As she stepped outside, her phone began buzzing. Her heart leaped, thinking it was Emily, but as she looked at the contact name, her feelings shifted from excited to confused. Why was Scout calling her? What could he possibly need at this time?

She answered. "Hey!"

"Hey, Tracer," his voice sounded weirdly quiet, and Tracer had a feeling something was amiss. "Uh...we gotta talk. You busy?"

"No, no," Tracer leaned against the wall. "I got the time. Something the matter?"

Scout inhaled. "Yeah- we found Medic,"

"Did you? Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yeah, yeah, listen: the guy that's about to be executed, Adel Heinz? You know him?"

"I know of him, yes. Why-?" The information sank in, and Tracer knew. "...oh, no. I-I'm so sorry,"

"What are we gonna do?" Scout's voice cracked. "We got the man knows how to fix this Black Flu thing, and pretty soon he's gonna be dead! Oh, man, if we knew earlier-"

"Scout!" Tracer cut in, silencing him. She tapped her foot anxiously, thinking. "I...we can fix this. We can think of something-?"

"Like what!?"

"I-I don't know! Oh, God..." she went silent, and then shook her head. "Come over tomorrow for breakfast. We'll talk then, okay?"

Scout's voice lowered. "Sure,"

"Okay," she affirmed. "It'll be okay,"

"Thanks," he hung up.

Scout set his phone on the table beside him, reclining in the chair. He put his hands on his face, his throat involuntarily squeaking. Overwatch was an organization devoted to fighting evil and protecting the innocent, and here was: about to ask them to free a death row inmate from prison. He could almost feel Winston slapping him across the room...

He shook himself. No, no, he wasn't about to give up. He couldn't give up now. They'd come so far, him and the others- they couldn't turn back, now! If this had happened in their former lives, back at the fort, they would have gone after Medic, performing a thrilling rescue. But those days were over, weren't they?

"Fuck," he cursed softly. He looked all around the room: he'd slipped into the pool room unnoticed, just for some quiet. The low lights bounced off the water, reflecting on the ceiling as Scout watched all by himself.

Scout couldn't stand it, and he reached for his phone again, searching for another contact. He didn't want advice, he wanted some kind of support. He knew who to ask, even though she wouldn't be much help.

The phone rang for a few seconds, and then there was a click. Comfort already started to fill Scout's veins when he heard that familiar voice.

"Dylan, my baby!" his mother's voice cooed sweetly. "I've been missin' ya!"

"Hey, Ma," he couldn't stop himself from smiling. "How's it goin' with grandma?"

"She's doin' much better!" she answered cheerfully. "The new meds are workin' great. How's everythin' goin' with you and your dad, sugar?"

Scout tried to think of a response. "Uh...kinda shitty, honestly,"

"Aw," her voice softened. "I'm so sorry, baby,"

"It's-"

"Is your dad givin' you trouble?" her voice went into what Scout called her 'mama bear' mode. "'Cause Rene knows I will beat his ass if he keeps treatin' you like shit-"

Scout cut in quickly. "It's not him! Ma, it ain't him this time. It's...something else,"

"Oh? What?"

"It's..." Scout realized his mother would actually be very accepting of the reincarnation idea. After all, she did watch as those physic TV shows and had even visited a medium before. Yet, he couldn't explain everything. Not now. "It's kinda hard to explain, but basically we were tryin' to do somethin' important, and now a big wrench's been thrown in our plans,"

His mother sighed. "Oh, hun. That can be very hard, I know. Ya think I can help?"

"I don't think so," he swallowed, smiling. "I just wanted to talk,"

"Of course, baby," she assured, her voice gentle. "I'm always here for you,"

"I know,"

There was a beeping in the background, and his mother gasped. "Oh! Duty calls. Talk to ya later, sweets. I love you!"

"Love you, too,"

The call ended. Scout pressed the phone against his chest little, feeling slightly better, but a little embarrassed. He was so desperate he actually called his mom...God, he missed her. Part of him wished his parents would get back together, but he knew that was impossible. Everything seemed impossible as if nothing would ever be the same again-

The door squeaked open, yanking Scout out of his thoughts. He stood up, reaching for his phone. "Sorry!" he called out, "I-I can go! It's..." he trailed off when he saw it was David. "Ah, great," he muttered to himself.

But David didn't seem angry. It was almost as if he were hiding a grin.

"Don't ya know it ain't safe to swim without a lifeguard, boy?"

"I wasn't swimming," Scout tried not to make eye contact, preparing to slip out.

David chuckled. "Yeah, I don't reckon you were the best swimmer based on my memory,"

For some reason, this made Scout upset. "Hey, I can swim! I just-" he paused, looking up at David and squinting. "Wait a sec...you remember me?"

"Aw, Scout," David smirked, clapping a hand on the boy's shoulder. "How could I forget you? Sorry 'bout earlier, by the way,"

Scout processed this, and he threw his arms around the older man. "I'm so glad ya remember, Engie!"

Engineer only laughed, hugging back. "Me too, kid. Me too," he pulled back after a moment, ushering Scout out of the pool room. "Awful muggy in here, come with me,"

As soon as Engineer shut the door and locked it behind them, Scout started rattling off. "Okay, listen: we found Medic, but he's actually a crazy murderer named-"

Engineer raised a hand, silencing him. "Kid, kid- I know. I know, okay?"

"You...do? But how?"

The Engineer didn't answer, and he simply led Scout down the hall. "We're gonna talk about that later. Just come with me, 'kay?"

"Okay..." Scout had several questions but only had more when Engineer headed for a door marked, 'Employee Dining Hall'. "Wait, what? What are we doin' here?"

Engineer only grinned, opening the door. "You're gonna see, kid,"

The door opened, and the sound of chatter met Scout's ears. His eyes widened as he stepped in, unable to believe what he was seeing.

His father, Sniper, and Demo all sat at the table with drinks, but across from them sat Soldier and an unfamiliar woman who Scout soon realized had to be Pyro. Engineer got a hold of Scout's small shoulder again and pushed him in gently. "Look who I found!"

Heads turned, and Pyro leaped up from her chair, taking a moment to look Scout up and down before flapping her hands in joy and hugging him tightly.

"H-hey, Pyro!" he hugged back, noting mentally how surreal this was. He took a look back at the men at the table. "What's goin' on?"

"Come and sit," Spy pulled up a chair. "Where were you?"

"Lil' bastard was in the pool room," Engineer explained, grabbing a glass and pouring a drink for Scout. "Cryin' like I've never seen,"

"Hey, I wasn't crying!" Scout defended, scoffing and accepting the glass. "You don't know what you're talkin' about," he took a swig, glancing around the room. "So, why are we here? Some kinda reunion?"

"Yeah, if ye want to call it that!" Demo laughed. "The reunion where we talk about breakin' Medic outta jail!"

Scout nearly choked on his drink. "For real!?"

"Yes, for real!" Soldier affirmed. "We are not leaving the German behind to fall prey to a government death-trap!"

"We were thinkin' of payin' a visit to Heavy tomorrow," Sniper explained. "Any idea where he is?"

Scout thought about it. "I think he's still at the Overwatch base. Hey, I'm going there tomorrow morning!"

"Excellent!" Engineer chimed in. "I gotta work tomorrow, but you guys can talk to him, okay?"

"Yeah!" those lost, hopeless feelings Scout had earlier were gone and thrown out the window. This was so exciting! They were getting back together!

"Excuse me?" a voice asked from the door, and they all turned around. Karen stood there, out of her work clothes but in a blouse and a pair of leggings. She grinned at them. "Can I be of any help?"

Scout squinted, not recognizing her at first, but then the realization hit him. "Hey, it's you!" he dashed over to her, scooping her up and squeezing her enough to make her let out a little, 'oh!' "Damn, you still look great! Can I still call you 'Miss Paul-"

"No," she answered quickly. "No, I'd prefer to be called Karen, thanks," she swept a lock of hair out of her face, turning to the others. "Can I get a drink?"

"'Course you can!" Engineer started pouring another glass. "Really, let's talk about this,"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

 **Warning: this chapter gets pretty violent. It's a type of violence similar to what happens in TF2, but still.**

Sombra clicked the 'disconnect' button on her laptop, scribbling down a few more notes and rising up off the sofa. She passed Widowmaker, who was sitting before the TV with her usual, blank expression.

"I'll be back," Sombra assured, and Widow only responded with an 'mmm' sound.

Sombra pushed the door open, leading to the conjoined laundry room, where Moira sat at a newly installed desktop.

"What did you learn, dear one?" Moira inquired without even turning around.

"Of the eight people, six are going to the Overwatch base site," Sombra informed the older woman. "The two staying behind are David and Karen,"

Moira nodded, making a note of this in a document she'd opened. "I see. And how will six people travel to the base site from here?"

"They're calling for two Ubers. Three in one, three in the other,"

"Hmm," Moira leaned back in the chair, pursing her lips together. "Interesting. And how many Overwatch members will be at the base during that time?"

Sombra winced, trying to remember. "Well...if I read Winston's updates correctly, some agents will be back at Nature's Gate, some will be here, looking for us, and the rest will be at the base,"

"Could you bring me the updates?"

"I sure can!"

Sombra left, and then returned moments later with her tablet. She passed the tablet over to Moira. "You have no idea how long it took to hack into their chat server! Winston really knew what he was doing when he set up-"

"Hush," Moira cut in, her eyes scanning the tablet's screen. "Hm...It doesn't seem like we'll have a hard time if we choose to attack the base, simply judging by who's staying behind. He sent all the good agents out on the mission, foolish monkey,"

"But what about the guests?" Sombra wanted to know. "We'll have to deal with them, too,"

Moira snorted. "Really? Please, they're guests! Nothing more! They're unarmed and harmless, no one has to deal with them,"

"Oh..." Sombra went silent for a few seconds and then piped back up. "So, who's going on this mission?"

"I'll talk to Akande about it," Moira assured. "Of course, we'll need you to fly the drone beforehand,"

"Great!" Sombra nodded, springing back up and heading for the door. "Let me get it out now so I won't have to do it tomorrow,"

She dashed outside to the supply closet, where she found the worn cardboard box. She dug around inside until she found the drone, running a hand over the top to see if all the pieces were still intact. They were.

Just as Sombra rose up from the box, she felt someone behind her and turned around to see Karen standing there.

"Hey, Sombra," Karen gave a nod, her eyes flickering to the drone. "What's the drone for?"

"Can't tell you, chica," Sombra smirked, tucking the device beneath her arm. "Confidential info. What are you doing here?"

Karen shrugged. "Just finishing up before I go home for the night. I have plans tomorrow,"

Something in Sombra twinged. "Oh? What plans?"

"I'm going out with some old friends tomorrow, and David's going, too," Karen explained. "We were going to stay behind, but we were able to get covers for tomorrow,"

Although Karen didn't say it, Sombra knew immediately what was happening. She swallowed. "Huh...I see,"

"Anyway, I'm gonna head out for the night," Karen smiled, turning towards the hallway. "Have fun with your drone,"

When she was gone, Sombra shook herself. What was her deal? Why was she so concerned about this random girl getting hurt? She barely knew her, after all.

Something in her chest shuddered, and she tried her hardest to ignore it. Now wasn't the time for this: even she knew when to be serious about a mission.

Sombra closed the closet door and headed back to the room.

Morning came.

Tracer clicked her chronal accelerator across her chest, just as she did each morning, and she took a moment to brush a hand through her hair. It was then that she noticed her phone had lit up, and there was a text message from Scout.

 _"Call me when you can, plz."_

"Huh," Tracer uttered aloud when she noticed it, and she picked up the phone.

"Hey, Scout!" she greeted when he picked up. "Is everything all right?"

He sounded a lot more chipper than the last time they'd talked. "Hey! There's been a change of plans,"

"Oh, yeah," Tracer leaned against her desk. "I should tell you that Winston told me something kind of important this morning-"

Scout went right on. "It ain't just me comin', it's me and some buddies of mine, we- oh, you were sayin' somethin'! Sorry, what is it?"

"You said your Medic was Adel Heinz, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Did you do any research on the Adel Heinz case at all?"

"Uh..." Scout went quiet. "No?"

Tracer began to explain. "Okay, well: when Adel Heinz was arrested, a police body camera recorded the entire thing, but the recording apparently got lost or damaged,"

"Okay? And?"

"And Winston thinks he found the recording. It was burned onto a DVD he bought from a yard sale,"

Scout went quiet again. "God damn!" he exclaimed after a few seconds. "That's, uh...can we see it?"

"You'll have to convince him to show it to you," sighed Tracer. "He wants a few of us to watch the whole recording before he turns it into the authorities,"

"Well, if we're gonna help Medic, we gotta watch that video!" Scout affirmed. "We'll be there in about, uh, twenty minutes!"

"Great! See you, then,"

That was at 8:30 AM.

"So we're not calling the Ubers after all?"

Engineer shook his head. "Nope. Since I managed to get the morning off for this, I can take everyone in my van,"

Karen nodded, spraying something into her hair and smoothing it back. "Good, I didn't feel like paying anyone to drive us there, sorry to say it,"

"Well, you got that gas money?" when Karen glanced over at him, he only snickered. "Just kiddin',"

Eight people crowded into the van, which was actually meant to hold six people, but Engie had anticipated this.

"I installed two seats in the back," he explained. "Who wants them?"

Pyro immediately sprang up and seated herself in the back, buckling in and humming as she slipped the mask over her head.

Engie couldn't help but laugh. "I forgot, she likes to sit in the back. Who's sittin' with her?"

"Scout, sit with Pyro," Spy instructed.

Scout looked a little offended. "What? I had to sit in the back all the time when I was a kid! I ain't going back there!"

"Because you're still the youngest here," muttered Sniper.

Spy retrieved his vape pen and inhaled on it. "Scout, we're not going to argue about-"

"Actually," Engie batted the vapor away, making a face. "Since ya just vaped in my van, how about you sit in the back?"

Spy opened his mouth to make some remark but thought better of himself. "...fine,"

He got up and went to the back, where he sat down next to Pyro. He nodded at her. "How are you, beauté masquée?"

Pyro only tilted her head slightly, and then turned around and dug into a tote bag next to her seat. She pulled out what appeared to be a somewhat singed Happy Meal toy and put it on Spy's lap.

Spy stared at it for a few seconds before remarking, "I didn't ask for this child's toy, but-" he grimaced when he picked it up and felt a sticky film covering the surface. "Eugh!"

They drove down to Overwatch's base site and pulled into the parking lot. Engie shut the van off and looked out to squint at the building. "So that's what it looks like, huh?"

Scout started to say, "Yeah, it's even bigger on the inside-" but a siren cut him off.

The siren increased in volume slowly but steadily. Those in the car sat still, listening.

"Fire department?" Soldier wondered out loud.

"No...no..." Scout looked out the window. "It's comin' from the building," it was then that he noticed the feminine figure standing several feet away. "Tracer!"

Scout undid his seatbelt and flung the door open, rushing towards her. "Yo, Tracer!"

Tracer whipped around with a look of panic on her face. "Scout, you need to leave!"

"What?" he paused, looking at her quizzically. "What's happenin'? What's the siren for?"

Tracer opened her mouth to speak, but it was too late.

A pair of thick, heavy combat boots trudged up behind her, and a snide voice quipped, "Does Winston know you're out here instead of in the base with everyone else? Or does he just not care?"

Scout took a step back, his eyes widening. "Who's that!?"

"Bad news!" Tracer explained quickly, whipping out a blunt baton. "Run!"

Scout felt himself freeze up, watching as Tracer raised the baton high and brought it down in a quick swoop. Reaper seized her wrist, tilting his head at her choice of weapon.

"You call that a weapon?" he snorted, reaching for his belt. He unsheathed a machete, which he lifted above his head. "This is a weapon!"

Tracer acted fast, bringing her knee up and striking Reaper directly in the groin. This didn't seem to hurt him, and he struck Tracer with his wrist, hard. As she fell to the ground with a yelp, her baton clattering to the pavement, Reaper scoffed, "Nice try, girl scout, but I have armor right there because I'm not an idiot!"

"You sure about that, pal?" a voice from behind chided, and Reaper turned to look.

Almost instantly, Scout clocked Reaper in the face with the baton Tracer had dropped. Reaper let out an undignified squawk, and Scout snickered. "Yeah, take that, chucklehead! I've been doin' this a lot longer than you-"

He was cut off when Reaper lunged at him, gripping a hand tightly around his neck and pinning him to the ground. Scout writhed and swung, letting out a shriek of pain when Reaper swept the machete across his skin and cut a good gash on his right arm.

"Shouldn't you be in school, kid?" Reaper let out a sadistic chuckle as he tightened his grip, listening to Scout gasp. "I should cut out that tongue of yours, see how smart you are then,"

All of the sudden, a sharp, searing pain spread through Reaper's back, and a lithe yet strong arm circled around his neck, squeezing it tightly.

Spy removed the screwdriver from Reaper's back, growling, "Release my son or it goes in your throat next,"

Reaper went silent and then flung himself backward, crushing Spy against the pavement. Spy let out a yell, struggling as Reaper pried the screwdriver from his hand. Once he'd obtained it, Reaper brought the tool down and stabbed it right through Spy's palm, pinning him to the asphalt. As Spy cried out in pain and tried to pull it from his hand, Reaper looked up to see that Tracer and Scout were both gone.

"Ha!" Reaper put his foot against Spy's diaphragm, pushing down hard and making him wheeze. "Looks like your kid and his girlfriend abandoned you,"

Spy's face twitched and he yanked his afflicted hand up, screwdriver and all. With surprising ease, he removed the tool and stabbed Reaper again, this time in the spot just above his ankle. He did this with such force that the tool pierced the bone and went right out the other side.

The scream Reaper released was deafening, and he collapsed on the ground. "Bastard! You fucking bastard!"

Spy struggled to his feet, his hands quivering as Reaper tossed the machete aside and reached for his belt again, this time pulling out a gun.

"Time to die!" Reaper boomed, aiming the gun while attempting to stand up.

He never fired it. The screeching of tires sounded through the parking lot, and Spy jumped out of the way just in time. Engie's van came barreling through, knocking Reaper off of his feet. The force knocked Reaper straight up the windshield, up on the roof, and then back down on the pavement with a loud thud.

The van slowed to a stop, and the doors opened. Soldier and Demo ran to where Reaper lay still in the gravel, and they knelt down to look at him.

"Is he dead?" Demo wondered, poking him.

"Does it matter?" Soldier shrugged.

"All right, fellas, move it along!" Engineer swatted the two of them away, dropping down to feel Reaper's pulse. "Nope, we knocked him right out. Get the duct tape-"

Tracer stepped in. "No, no, let me do it,"

Scout leaped out of the van, running to his father right away. "Dad, are you all right!?"

Spy only grunted, wincing at the open wound in his hand as the blood gushed down his wrist. "I'll live, I suppose, but..." he trailed off, his eyelids faltering as he had to look away from the wound. He looked as though he could vomit at any moment.

Tracer looked up from where she was tying up Reaper, watching Spy with concern. "I can take him to Dr. Ziegler,"

"No, no," Karen put a hand on Spy's shoulder, guiding him to sit on the pavement while she retrieved a first aid kit. "I've got it- I can play Medic, for now, I guess,"

As Karen quickly began patching Spy up, Pyro offered him some juice to drink. Tracer clicked something on a device on her belt, speaking into it: "This is Tracer. Reaper has been knocked unconscious and restrained,"

"Good work," Winston's voice responded. "Please get in the base. Two other Talon members have already breached our security,"

"Which ones?"

"Moira and Widowmaker have both been spotted inside,"

Tracer groaned. "Aw, bloody hell. I'll be right there,"

As she ended the call, Tracer turned to the others. "You may want to get out of here, it's gonna get pretty ugly,"

"Sorry, darlin'," Engineer took a step forward, crossing his arms. "We ain't leavin', we're here to help,"

Tracer tried to get him to back down. "That's really not necessary, and I can only let you help out if you have fighting experience..." Tracer trailed off as she remembered who she was talking to. "Wait-"

"Didn't you see us take out ol' masky?" Scout grinned. "I think you need us,"

Tracer glanced towards the base site, and then took a deep breath. "All right. Can you keep Reaper locked up in the van for now?"

"Sure thing!" Engineer grabbed the unconscious man's feet, dragging him towards the van.

Spy stood up, adjusting himself and pulling out his vape pen. "Gentlemen," he began, blowing out a cloud of vapor. "It would seem we're back in business,"

In the storage unit behind the base, Heavy lay on his bed, filling out an adult coloring book while watching TV, totally oblivious as to what was happening outside. That is until the door opened.

Heavy looked up to see Zarya standing there, and she handed him a gun. "You need to protect yourself. Even with your strength, you will need this,"

Heavy accepted the weapon but looked at her in confusion. "Protect from what?"

Before Zarya could respond, the unit's only window shattered, accompanied by a boom. Zarya cried out and collapsed, falling against the shelf and then on the floor. Heavy leaped up, running to her side. "Zarya!?"

Zarya groaned, heaving herself up and reaching a hand up to feel the back of her neck. Looking at her, Heavy realized she'd been shot, but the bullet had only grazed her, thankfully. Heavy grabbed a handful of tissues and handed them to her, squinting out the shattered window.

He could see a slender figure from one of the base's windows, and he could also make out the unmistakeable glinting of a gun in the sunlight. His eyes narrowed, and he rose up, heading for the door. "I will handle this,"

Zarya turned her attention from her wound, a look of panic on her face. "What!? No, come back!" she stumbled after him as she continued to press the tissues against the back of her neck. "It is not safe!"

Widowmaker could see a large, mountain of a man nearing the base, a gun in his hand, but she was not worried in the slightest. She sipped from her water bottle, aiming her rifle once more.

She was so focused on her target that she didn't hear the footsteps behind her until they got closer. She glanced over her shoulder right as a heavy briefcase knocked her right in the face.

Widowmaker tumbled backward in surprise, completely missing her shot but recovering quickly. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed her gun and jumped up, only to freeze as she made eye contact with her attacker.

Sniper only swallowed thickly. "Bet ya thought you got rid of me, eh?"

Widowmaker's eye twitched. "I knew I should not have spared you," she thrust the barrel of the rifle into Sniper's chest, only to have him knock it away in the nick of time so she'd hit the wall instead.

Acting fast, he yanked the gun from her hands and threw it over his shoulder, remarking, "Ain't so tough without your-" she cut him off by digging her nails into his neck so hard they drew blood.

"You do not know what you have done, you filthy junker," she hissed at him.

Sniper paused for a moment. "Wait- did you just call me a junker?"

"I hear it in your accent," she explained, her face emotionless as her golden eyes stared into his gray ones.

Sniper said nothing, then used his free hand to punch Widowmaker in her abdomen, hard. She let out a yelp, releasing him and doubling over, and Sniper pounced. He knocked her to the ground, wrestling her hands behind her back as he pinned her there.

"What should I do, now?" he mused aloud, watching as she squirmed. "Should I put you in the showers and leave ya there? Just like ya did with me?"

Widowmaker's body jerked, and a strangled sound escaped her throat. For a few seconds, Sniper wondered if she was going to pretend to cry to get sympathy but soon discovered that wasn't the case.

She began coughing, and the sound grew louder and more violent as her whole body convulsed. Sniper listened and watched, grimacing at a particularly bad wheeze but still not saying anything. When she coughed up a small stream of blood, Sniper finally remarked, "Didn't hit you that hard,"

Widowmaker only glared at him for a moment before continuing to cough and wheeze. As more blood dribbled from her mouth, Sniper finally noticed something on the back of her neck. "What the...?"

He reached down, sweeping her hair aside, and that was when he saw them: veiny, black markings like branches spreading across her blue flesh. Sniper examined the marks, and observed finally, "You got Black Flu,"

"Get off of me, and do not touch my hair," Widowmaker seethed, although she made no move to escape. "Or kill me, if you must,"

Sniper did not obey, and he instead tried to think of what he should do next. Her gun was only a few feet away, he could kill her right now with it. Though, she seemed to be struggling to breathe, like she couldn't get a full breath, so he wondered if perhaps he'd let her poor respiration kill her.

Yet, something in Sniper's chest ached quietly at the thought of just ending her life. She was horribly ill and would probably die anyway, and he tried to tell himself that killing her would be for the best, but...he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"What are you doing?" Widowmaker rasped as Sniper scooped her up, tucking a hand beneath her knees. "Go on and kill me already,"

"Sorry, Sheila," he smirked at her, carrying her out the door. "But not today,"

* * *

 **Hello, friends! Sorry for the late update, I've been kinda busy lately.**

 **Hope this chapter was okay! This was certainly one of the longer updates, but we're getting to a good part. You'll see soon enough!**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

Mei's footsteps echoed through the empty hall as she kept her gun against her chest, glancing over her shoulder every few seconds. This went on for about a minute until she became aware of the patter of feet coming up behind her.

Tensing up, she whirled around, aiming. "Freeze right there!"

Scout halted, putting his hands up. "Whoa! Just me!"

"Scout!?" Mei lowered her weapon, feeling incredibly embarrassed. "Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry! I thought you were-"

"Hey, hey, it's cool," he assured. "I shoulda said somethin', my bad,"

Mei eyed Scout's arm. "What happened-?"

"Oh, this?" Scout lifted up his bandaged up arm. "Eh, that Reaper chucklehead cut my damn arm. S'all right, though, I'm all patched up,"

"Wait, wait," Mei shook her head in disbelief. "Reaper!? You ran into Reaper and lived!?"

Scout snorted. "Well, yeah. Pretty easy, actually, all we had to do was mess 'em up with a truck,"

Mei stared at him, open-mouthed. "Scout, Reaper is a Talon member-"

"I know that! I wasn't born yesterday-"

"You took out a Talon member! How are you not freaking out!?"

Scout paused. "Uh...should I be?"

"I..." Mei trailed off and then shook herself. "Where is Reaper now?"

"Tracer cuffed him and he's in the back of Engie's truck," Scout explained. "We think he's got a concussion,"

"Whoa," Mei breathed, mostly to herself. She stared into Scout's handsome face for a few seconds before clearing her throat. "Anyway, there are at least two other Talon members in here,"

"Yeah, I heard," Scout nodded. "Snipes went lookin' for the blue lady. I've been textin' him but he's not responding,"

Mei grimaced. "Oh, no. Well, Widowmaker prefers to shoot from high places, so that means she's probably-"

"Hey!" a voice called from down the hall, and both turned to look.

Much to their surprise, Sniper came trudging up, with Widowmaker dragging at his side. "I got her!" he said, breathless. "She's got Black Flu, and she's got it pretty bad,"

Mei took the woman from him, taking a look behind her neck and cringing. "Geez!"

Widowmaker just stared up at Mei, her eyes blank. "Kill me,"

There was a long pause, and Mei pushed her back into Sniper's arms. Scout watched as Mei turned away, pacing while staring at the ground.

"Mei?" Scout's voice had a twinge of concern in it. "Ya good?"

More footsteps came pittering over the linoleum tiles, and Mei glanced up to see a handful of some other people running towards them.

"Any luck?" Engineer wanted to know, somewhat out of breath.

"Yeah, look!" Scout gestured to Sniper. "He got a live one!"

Soldier took one look at how Sniper held on to Widowmaker and remarked rather loudly, "Is she your prisoner?"

"No!" Sniper barked. "She's sick-"

Widowmaker cut in, droning, "Juste me tuer, je ne souhaite pas être dans les bras de ce maréchal en sueur,"

Spy raised an eyebrow. "Si la mort est ce que vous souhaitez, nous ne vous accorderons pas un tel prix,"

When Widowmaker glanced up, slightly surprised, Demo groaned. "Great, now we got two of ye talkin' in fancy,"

"Be quiet!" Mei snapped suddenly, and everyone turned to look at her. She took a breath. "I...I'm sorry, just: what is going on here!? I thought only Scout was supposed to come,"

Engineer nodded, a little embarrassed. "Sorry miss, there was a change of plans. Ya need help here? Anythin' we can do right now?"

Mei swung her gun at her side in thought, her eyes glued to the floor. "I...I'm not sure,"

Just then, Pyro tugged on Engineer's sleeve, pointing at the ceiling. "What is it, Firebug?" he replied, turning to look.

Pyro pointed, making a noise of confusion. Engineer looked up, squinting. "What the-? Hey, are your security cameras on?"

"No, actually," Mei sighed. "Someone hacked into them and shut them down, we were told,"

"Okay, well that one's flashin'," Engineer explained.

Mei turned to look. "Huh? What? But if they're off..." she trailed off, squinting. "We're being watched,"

Indeed they were. Sombra's voice filtered through Moira's earpiece, saying, "They noticed the camera. They aren't that far from you, just turn the corner and you'll find them,"

"Thank you, dear," Moira glanced over the corner, smirking. "This should be easy,"

Right as Mei began to reach for the communication device on her utility belt, Moira's shoes came clicking into the scene.

"Hello, everybody," Moira began, her hands clasped pleasantly yet her expression indicated that she intended to do harm. "My name is Moira O'Deorain, and I will keep this short and simple: hand over Widowmaker or I shall have to kill you,"

Mei acted fast, poising her weapon. "It's over, Moira! You're outnumbered!"

Moira chuckled. "Oh, Mei. Tell me: can eight hens overcome a fox?"

Mei started to answer, but Moira interrupted her. "The answer is no, Miss Zhou,"

Before anyone had any time to react, Moira swept her hand forward in a practiced motion, and a strange black substance flowed from a device on her wrist. It coiled around Mei's limbs, solidifying into bounds and immobilizing her.

Scout jumped at Moira with a running start, but she was prepared and shot the same substance at him. As he fell to the floor, his limbs bound with the stuff, Moira remarked, "A powerful invention, isn't it? It's new material a close friend of mine is allowing me to use. Do not move around too much, because it will burn your skin. Now-"

Moira was cut off when Pyro smacked her in the stomach with a wrench, hard. Moira only made a soft grunt in response, flinging her hand forward and releasing a shockwave of dark energy and blasting Pyro backward.

Pyro slammed directly into Soldier, who caught her effortlessly and placed her on her feet. He then snatched a mop from a nearby bucket in the corner, getting a running start and leaping right at the woman.

Moira stepped away, ducking the blow he directed at her head and then releasing more of the black substance, tying him up with the mop pressed against his neck.

"Shit!" Engineer exclaimed when he realized the mop was cutting off Soldier's airway. He ran to help him, only to have Moira force him back with a potent wave of energy.

"Leave him," she then whirled around to face Spy, who was trying to sneak up behind her, and she slammed him into the wall with great force, knocking the wind out of him.

"It amazes me how much humans are willing to fight, only to die another day," Moira mused, seizing Demo by the neck. "I have the potential to kill all of you, do you not understand this?"

Scout winced as he tried to wriggle free of the bounds, feeling them tear at his skin. "S-so why don't ya just hurry up and do it, stupid bitch!? Instead of talkin' us to death,"

Moira turned her attention away from Demo, squinting at Scout. "Excuse me?"

"What are you doing!?" hissed Spy, struggling to stand up.

Scout coughed and went on. "You say you got the potential to kill us, and yeah? A dog has a potential to kill us! So does a bear, or a dedicated bird! You ain't special,"

Moira stared at Scout for a few seconds, amused, and then she dropped Demo. After she'd bound Demo, she made her way over to Scout.

"And just who do you think you are?" she began, kneeling beside Scout and looking into his determined face. "You are but a boy, a boy with a hot tongue,"

Scout only glared at her. "I ain't a kid, lady,"

"I see," Moira retrieved a scalpel from her coat, grabbing a hold of Scout's face. "Perhaps I should teach you a lesson because after all, I am going to kill you, but that doesn't mean I can't play with you first," she began to pry his mouth open with her fingers. "I will cut out your tongue-"

She never got the chance to. The only thing anyone heard before the madness ensued was a gasp, and Sniper shouting, "Oh, my God, it's Heavy!"

Moira glanced up just as a large hand seized the back of her neck, yanking her away from Scout and throwing her against the wall. There was a sickening crack as her nose met the concrete wall, and she crumpled to the ground, gasping and trying to compose herself.

She raised a hand, intending to do her worst, but Heavy simply grabbed the device on her wrist and tore it right off, smashing it on the floor.

Instantly, the dark bounds fell away and became liquid, freeing those who were trapped. Moira tried once more to do damage, but Heavy simply closed his large hand around her neck, choking her.

"Talon will kill you," she growled at him in between chokes.

Heavy stared at her for a moment, and then lifted her off the ground, slamming her back down and shattering her earpiece. He could have killed her, right then and there, but Mei aimed her gun and fired, freezing Moira to her spot.

"We can't kill her!" Mei explained breathlessly. "She could have important information that we need,"

Mei then turned to the others, asking, "Is everyone all right?"

Soldier wheezed, throwing the mop aside and letting it clatter to the floor. "I don't give a single damn about information! Let me at the bitch-"

"No!" Engineer stopped him. "Listen to her, it's not our call,"

As everyone tried to gather themselves, Mei knelt beside Scout, who was sitting up but looking very shaken. "What about you?" she asked, her voice rather quiet. "Are you okay?"

Scout nodded. "Y-yeah! Hey- she didn't...? She wasn't really gonna...?" he poked his tongue out, wiggling it around. "She..."

"I'm sorry to say this, but she probably would have done that," Mei explained solemnly. "I wouldn't put it past a woman like her,"

There was a pause, and then Mei offered him her hand. "Need help?"

"Nah," Scout murmured, struggling to his feet.

Pyro squealed with delight, clapping her hands as she ran up to Heavy and hugged him tightly. He had mostly calmed down, now, and he scooped up Pyro effortlessly, hugging her as she continued making happy sounds.

"Thank God ye got here just in time!" Demo exclaimed, patting Heavy on the back as he went in for a hug. "Dunno what we'd have done,"

Heavy reunited with each of his teammates, showering each with the same affection and happiness. He even treated Scout and Spy the same way, though he'd already seen them just a day earlier.

Zarya banged the door open, rushing in, but she came screeching to a halt when she took in the scene.

"You..." she began, pointing to the frozen Moira.

"Yeah, yeah," Mei took a breath, smoothing her hair back. She pointed to Widowmaker, who lay on the floor in a defeated heap. "Zarya, can you get her to the medical office?"

Zarya nodded, swooping down and picking up the limp woman. "Of course,"

Sniper noticed this, and he began to follow Zarya. "Hey, hey, where are you taking her?"

"To the medical office," Zarya answered simply. "She will be fine, worry not. Mercy can fix her chopped up brain and body,"

As Zarya left, Sniper made the briefest eye contact with Widowmaker. She watched him blankly as she and Zarya disappeared down the hallway.

Right as Mei was about to drag Moira off, Tracer came bounding in. Karen tried to keep up with her, tripping and falling yet allowing Scout to catch her.

"What happened!?" she gasped, looking around quickly. "Was that all of them!? Did you get all of them!?"

"Yep!" Mei exclaimed, gesturing to their guests. "Thanks to them!"

Winston appeared over Tracer's shoulder, lumbering in on strangely quiet feet. He took a moment to tally all the damage before asking, "You...you did this?" he looked to Scout with disbelief. "There's no way-"

"Believe it, my good ape friend!" Scout announced, proud. "Ya trust me, now? I-"

"Do not lie to the gorilla, Scout," Spy cut in. "It was a team effort, really,"

Soldier stopped prodding Moira with the end of the broom to point at Winston. "Who are you!?"

"He's our leader!" Tracer answered. "He-"

Soldier didn't let her finish. "And where were your troops, hairy gorilla man!? If Overwatch is so great, where is everybody!?"

Winston looked offended. "We are a very capable organization, thank you very much!"

"Sorry 'bout that," Engineer stepped in, reaching out to shake Winston's hand. "I've always admired what Y'all do around here,"

"It's fine," Winston relaxed slightly. "Look, a good number of our agents went out on a different mission. I tried to call some of them back here, but it seems the connection was severed. I couldn't get any calls through,"

"That ain't nice," Engineer agreed. "Could I take a look at your system?"

"Absolutely," Winston motioned for the others to follow him. "I have no idea where the other Talon members are, but in case they show up, you might want to stay close,"

The other two Talon members were miles away, in a self-driving rental car. Sombra grimaced and slipped her headphones around her neck. "Uh, Akande? You aren't gonna like this,"

"Let me guess," Doomfist removed his sunglasses. "Moira's systems went offline as well?"

Sombra nodded. "Yep,"

Doomfist sighed, watching the scenery go by as the car sped along. "No matter. I have others I can call too, and of course, you are here, too,"

Sombra perked up. "I sure am!"

The car slowed to a stop. The two got out, leaving the equipment behind but grabbing weapons. They walked up to the bushes, where a tall, slender figure graced out to meet them.

"You came after all," she greeted, her voice soft.

Doomfist nodded. "We have. Are the Overwatch agents close by?"

"Yes. I've been watching them. They have not seen me, I've been careful,"

"Good, good. Your loyalty is appreciated, Miss Vaswani,"

Symmetra's eye twitched. "My loyalty does not belong to you, sir. You know why I'm doing this,"

Doomfist's lips quirked into a smile. "I do. Let's get this over with, shall we?"

The three figures entered Nature's Gate, side by side.

* * *

 **Hey, everyone! Sorry, this took so long to update! I'm starting classes again soon and I haven't had as much time to sit and write.**

 **Thank you to everyone who's stuck with this story! I hope you're really enjoying it so far, I've worked hard on it. Anyway, let me know what you thought of this chapter in your review, and I will see you at the next update. Bye for now!**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17:

10:30 AM.

Birds sang in the trees as the midsummer wind blew through the leaves. From a distance, it would have been a lovely sight, but those who knew what Nature's Gate was viewed this as an eerie foreboding.

"Tracer said this was the house?" Lucio wanted to know, opening a kitchen cabinet and squinting inside.

"This was where she said she saw that child, and where I got the DNA sample," Genji nodded. "We think there might be some tunnel system through the walls,"

"Ooh!" Junkrat piped up. "Does that mean I can blow up this place!?"

Pharah gingerly pried an explosive from his mechanical hand, saying, "No, Jamison. We've told you no several times,"

Junkrat huffed. "Aw, come on! You said I could go on this mission and now ya won't even let me do anythin'!?"

"Just wait, all right?" Reinhardt took a deep breath, drawing his ax and approaching the back wall. "Someone get behind me with weapons,"

Lucio and McCree got behind him, poising their weapons as he began to hack away at the wall. Everyone else stood perfectly still, watching in total silence as the wood split down and fell to the floor.

Soon, a hole about as large as someone's head formed into the wall. Reinhardt glanced in, his hand still gripping his ax.

"Completely dark," he noted. "But hollow,"

Junkrat dug around in a drawer, retrieving a rusty spoon. "Can I drop this in? See how deep it is?"

Reinhardt hesitated. "All right, but...be careful,"

Junkrat scurried forward, leaning into the wall and dropping the spoon within. He counted: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5- and then there was the sound of metallic clinking on concrete.

"Do you think it's a basement, maybe?" Pharah suggested.

"Maybe," Reinhardt stepped away from the hole. "Let's start looking for basement stairs-"

"That won't be necessary," another voice cut in from the doorway, and everyone turned to look.

Pharah's face dropped. "Talon-!"

"They are, but I am not," Symmetra explained dryly, gesturing to Doomfist and Sombra.

"Wait!" Lucio leaped forward. "I know you! You're that lady from Vishkar,"

"And you're with Talon members?" McCree squinted. "What's goin' on?"

Doomfist explained, "You do not need to know all the details here. All you need to know is that you have two options,"

Reinhardt positioned himself to reach for his gun. "And what are those options?"

"If you drop this whole mission, we will leave you alone," Doomfist began. "You won't hear from Talon for a significant amount of time, and Vishkar will donate a great sum of money to you all, but only if you agree to abandon this Nomad mission,"

"And if we don't?" Pharah wanted to know, her eyes narrowing.

Doomfist gave a slight smile. "Well, then Talon will have no choice but to destroy you-"

All of the sudden, Junkrat rushed forward, unleashing a shrieking battle cry. He tossed a hand-held explosive towards the doorway, but right as it detonated, Symmetra threw up a shield to block the explosion.

The force threw Junkrat and the other agents backward, and Symmetra lowered the shield. Sombra snickered, "You guys really had to be idiots and go with the second option?"

Reinhardt jumped right back to his feet, aiming his gun. "No, there's a third option. No one here is going down without a fight!"

Genji suddenly put his hand up. "Wait just a minute- did you feel that?"

Doomfist shook his head. "Typical Shimada, trying to distract rather than..."

He trailed off at the vibration through the floorboards. Everyone fell silent.

McCree turned slowly to the wall. "Aw, hell no-"

A loud scratching echoed through the walls, accompanied by a chorus of war cries and yelling. Through the cabinets, floorboards, the closet, and the recent hole in the wall came clusters of people packed together like rodents.

Men, women, and children alike poured into the house, all either naked or dressed in rags. They ran like animals on their dirty feet, their clawed hands scrambling as they yelled in incomprehensible gibberish.

 _"It's the Nomads!"_ Pharah exclaimed with pure horror.

An adult male ran towards Genji, and Genji stabbed him without hesitation. The moment he did, though, two young boys grabbed him by his ankles and knocked him to the floor, while a little girl ran up and snatched his weapon. Despite being children, their fighting was incredibly skilled and fluid.

"We need to leave, now!" Sombra yelled at her companions, and Doomfist nodded in agreement.

Symmetra began to follow them out, only to feel a pair of dirty hands on her. She screamed, preparing to create another shield, but she suddenly found herself swarmed with Nomads.

"Akande!" she cried out. "Sombra! Please, help!"

No one answered her. The world seemed to swim around her as she tried to fight off her attackers, and within moments, everything faded to black.

Symmetra awoke moments later, her back against something hard and cold. She jolted to attention and noticed immediately that something was off: her prosthetic arm was missing, while her other one was chained to the wall.

She could feel herself panicking as she realized she'd been stripped of her equipment, although her clothes were still there, and she started tugging against the chains in hopes of breaking free.

"They won't break," a voice beside her sighed. "I tried that,"

It was Genji, with both of his arms chained up but his prosthetics still attached. He asked, "Any idea where we are?"

Symmetra had to force the words from her throat. "N...no...I don't,"

Genji glanced away, and Symmetra hoped he wouldn't try to talk to her again. She was mistaken, though, when he spoke once more. "So...you work with Talon?"

Symmetra pretended she hadn't heard him and tried to wriggle her wrist free from the chains. Genji pressed on. "You know, if myself and the other agents get out of this alive, we can tell everyone that Vishkar corporation collaborated with a terrorist organization. Somehow, I don't think that would be good for business,"

"I never wanted this," Symmetra muttered, refusing eye contact.

"I'm sure you didn't," Genji nodded. "But you got it all the same-"

Symmetra's head snapped up suddenly. "No! I didn't even want to go on this mission! I'm not even supposed to be here! S-someone else was supposed to go but he couldn't do it because of complications with his schedule so I had to but I truly didn't want to-" she started rambling on and burst into tears, her chest heaving.

For a long time, the only sounds in the dungeon were her sobs, until Genji spoke up again, his voice a little softer. "I didn't mean to make you cry. Sorry,"

Symmetra sniffed, shaking her head. "Not your fault,"

In the darkness, a few feet away, the sound of a door squeaking open broke the silence. Genji looked up, unable to see in the dark since his visor had been taken.

"Who is that?" he called out. "Who's there?"

Symmetra pressed her eyes shut, preparing for the worst. "We're going to die, we're going to die here,"

A pair of footsteps came closer, and the figure soon became visible in the dim light just above where the two captives sat.

Genji stared up in disbelief. "...Hanzo?"

Without saying anything, Hanzo knelt down and undid the chains on both using a small tool. As soon as Symmetra was free, she blurted out, "Where is my arm!?"

"I have it, it's safe," Hanzo assured her in a gentle voice. He then turned to look at Genji, scanning him up and down. "Hello, again, brother,"

Genji felt like he couldn't speak. "I...w-what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Hanzo replied. "I understand you have a job to attend to, Genji, but may I ask why you can't leave these people alone?"

"What people?" Genji wanted to know. "Do you mean the Nomads? The Nomads are a threat, and...just- why are you here?"

"If you promise to listen to me, brother, I'll give you your devices so you can contact your friends," he then nodded at Symmetra. "I'll do the same for you, too,"

Symmetra and Genji exchanged a glance before Genji answered, "Okay, we're listening,"

Hanzo motioned for the two to follow him, and he led them through a door. The door opened to a long, dim hallway, once that was dirty and mostly resembled a tunnel. No one else was in sight, but several feet away some hushed voices could be heard.

Hanzo took a seat at what appeared to be dusty lawn furniture, and he gestured for the guests to do the same. Once everyone was seated, he explained, "These past few months, I've been traveling to try and find a place where I can truly belong. It has not been an easy process, but I had the funds to travel all the way out here, and I found the Nomads,"

"How did you convince them not to attack you?" Symmetra wanted to know.

"Ah, see, I didn't have to," Hanzo responded. "When I met the Nomads, it was by chance. A group of them were out scavenging, and I approached them and spoke to them. They were nervous around me, but I befriended them and they brought me into their community,"

Genji tilted his head in confusion. "You mean...they speak? They can actually communicate?"

Hanzo nodded. "They can, they aren't mindless animals. I've made friends with their leader, and she's shared with me the rich history of this community and of Nature's Gate itself. I've spent a great deal of time here, and it's been life-changing,"

Symmetra took a breath, straightening up. "Yes, but...you must understand that these people have become a threat to other communities. The Nomads are known cannibals, after all,"

"They only cannibalize those who harm them," Hanzo's tone remained even and neutral, but he was clearly defensive. "Those stories you've heard, of people disappearing in Nature's Gate, you don't know the full stories," he folded his hands on the table, focusing on Symmetra. "Let me ask you this: why is somebody from Vishkar here? And why were Talon agents with you?"

Symmetra's eyes flitted away, refusing eye contact. After a moment, she answered quietly, "Vishkar percieves the Nomads as a threat as is trying to eradicate them. Talon is assisting us in this process,"

"Eradicate them, how?" Genji asked.

"That information is classified," Symmetra replied quickly.

"Can you at least tell me why you're planning on stopping Overwatch from doing it instead?" Genji pressed on.

"Because you have Angela Ziegler," Symmetra stated. When Genji appeared confused, Symmetra explained, "Angela would want to let the Nomads live and then reintroduce them into normal society,"

Hanzo leaned his chin against his hand. "And why is that a bad thing?"

"There are little resources to perform such a task," Symmetra went on. "It would take ages to try and coax each and every Nomad out of this place, and it would take even longer to rehabilitate all of them. Extermination is the fastest and most effective way. I don't like it either, but my hands are tied,"

There was a pause. Hanzo stared at Symmetra for a moment, and then looked at Genji. Finally, he reached down from under his chair, pulling out a basket filled with their equipment. He passed everything to the guests, including Symmetra's prosthetic and Genji's utility belt.

As Genji reached for his pager, Hanzo cut in, "Before you call anyone, Genji, I'd like to take the two of you on a walk through here,"

Genji paused. "Why?"

Hanzo turned to look at Symmetra, who had just finished re-attaching her arm. "So she can see what it is her company wishes to destroy,"

It was about noon at this point.

Winston finished setting up the projector, and he turned to look at the group of people sitting behind him. Nine people: seven men and two women were here to see what had been discovered. He took a breath and began.

"All right- what you're about to see is the police bodycam footage of Adel Heinz's arrest. Adel Heinz was about twenty-six when he murdered his wife, his mother in law, and his unborn daughter. The wife and mother in law's bodies were both discovered, but the baby was never found, although Heinz admitted to killing her later,"

"Good Lord," Engineer murmured.

Heavy just sat there, looking perplexed. "I do not understand...Doctor would never harm a baby,"

Winston continued. "This footage was thought to be lost, but we discovered it merged on a DVD. I've seen the clip, and it seems to suggest your Medic was either innocent or unwilling,"

"Let's watch it and determine if that's true," Spy spoke up. "He's going to be executed in a day. If we can prove his innocence, we can save him,"

Winston reached out to hit the 'play' button but hesitated. "I'm warning you- it's hard to watch,"

"We've seen worse, pal," Scout quipped.

The video began.

A shaky camera viewed some police officers pounding on an apartment door marked '09'. "Open up, it's the police!"

When there was no answer, an officer kicked the door down. Instantly, the sound of a woman yelling filled the area, and the police rushed inside.

 _"Thank God you're here!"_ a woman sobbed offscreen. Though they couldn't see her, those watching knew exactly who it was.

"Administrator," Karen murmured as she watched.

Though the camera did not turn to her, she could still be heard speaking. _"He got away! I stabbed him, he's injured, but he took the baby!"_

The camera loomed over the form of a woman lying on the wood floor. Her eyes stared up, unseeing, and her mouth hung open while her middle had been cut clean open.

Winston added as he watched, "That's Adel's wife, Eliza Pendleton,"

 _"Where did he go?"_ an officer wanted to know.

 _"Outside,"_ she affirmed. _"Towards the woods out back, but he left another body in the bathroom!"_

The camera traveled to the hallway, where the officer opened the bathroom door. Lying there, in a pool of blood, was an older woman. Her throat had clearly been slit.

An officer off-screen called, _"There are some blood stains in the stairwell, and we believe we found a piece of an umbilical cord!"_

The camera jerked up and followed the other officers to the stairwell. There, a thin trail of blood led towards the back door, where it eventually stopped. The door opened to reveal a snowy, dark night, and the men pursued the footprints in the snow until a loud, harsh wailing split the air.

Heavy jerked up when he heard it. "Doctor!" he gasped. "It's him!"

They ran to the woods, where Adel Heinz stood there screaming into the trees.

 _"You bastards!"_ he sobbed, clutching a bleeding arm as he cried into the wind. _"I'll never forgive you! You killed my family- you killed my baby!"_

The officers grabbed him, and he screamed to be released and fought back. They eventually shot him with a stun dart, rendering him unconscious.

As they dragged him away, some more officers walked around, but the woods got too dark and deep. Nothing else was found that night.

Everything was silent. Finally, Scout spoke.

"God damn,"

"Did they ever find who he was screaming at?" Spy wanted to know.

Winston shook his head. "At the trial, it was believed that Adel was pretending there was someone to throw investigators off his trail,"

"But he admitted to it," Engineer cut in. "If he was tryin' to throw them off, he wouldn't have admitted to it. Did he even try to defend himself?"

"Um," Winston tried to remember. "If my memory is correct, he first tried to talk about some conspiracy, and he blamed the people involved,"

Spy's brow furrowed. "Conspiracy?"

"Yes," Winston continued. "They didn't find any evidence to back that up, however, so no further investigation was done. Adel admitted to it after that,"

Engineer spoke up again. "Hey, wasn't that video lost or something? How were you able to find it?"

"I picked it up from a garage sale," Winston responded. "I still have to talk to the man who sold it to me. I have no idea who he was, but I remember where his house is,"

"Did you buy anything else from him?" Sniper wanted to know.

Winston thought about it and then turned to the shelf behind him. "Hang on- yes,"

He retrieved a collection of older electronic devices and a few tools. "He claimed these were almost a hundred years old, and-"

"Wait a sec!" Scout exclaimed, leaping up. He ran to the desk where Winston had the items displayed, and he reached for one.

"Careful!" Winston hissed at him, but Scout paid him no mind.

He held up the dusty headset in disbelief. "This...this is..." he struggled to form the words, but the others knew exactly what he'd discovered.

Karen stood up to take a look. "Let me see," she leaned over the desk, rooting through the items. Not only was Scout's old headset there, but some of Engineer's tools, a broken piece of a sentry, and even a vintage watch Spy apparently 'lost' during a mission. It was all there.

"Winston," Karen started finally. "These are all from the RED base. Who did you buy these from, exactly? It had to be someone who had connections to us,"

"I..." Winston shook his head. "I don't know his name! I was just in the area and I saw he was having a garage sale. He was an older man, and he was very odd. That's all I could tell you. I remember what house it was, though, so I'm going to see him and ask-"

"Merasmus!" Soldier exclaimed suddenly. "It has to be!"

Winston gave him a sideways glance. "I don't know that name,"

"Was he wearing either a long robe or an animal skull?" Spy wanted to know.

Winston hesitated. "I...um- wait, yes! Not an animal skull, but he had a long robe on. He also had some jewelry on, I think,"

Scout rose up again and started pacing. "Lemme get this straight: Merasmus gives us our memories back and doesn't freakin' tell us why, and he steals our shit and sells it for-" he paused. "How much was the headset sold for?"

Winston squinted at the price tag he'd left on. "About 60 dollars or so,"

"60 dollars!" Scout flailed his arms around. "It's worth way more than that-!"

"Quiet, you!" Demo snapped at Scout, silencing him. "Listen, how's 'bout we go talk to the wizard?"

Soldier suddenly reached out and grabbed Winston's arm. "Take us to him, Gorilla man!"

Winston pushed him off. "Don't touch me!" he sighed. "Okay, if you think you know this man, you can come with me in a shuttle. But please, please don't get in the way of what I need to do,"

"We won't," Engineer nodded at him. "We just wanna ask him some questions of our own, you understand?"

"Of course," sighed Winston, standing up. "First and foremost, we need to know how he got this video. Heinz's execution is quite literally in 24 hours, and this video was never played in court or released,"

Heavy's eyes widened. "A day? Only a day?"

The gravity of the situation suddenly struck everyone, and there was a silence.

"We're gonna need a miracle to get Medic back," Sniper muttered.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

"So, no agreement was reached with Overwatch?"

"Correct,"

"And you lost at least three of your members already?"

"...correct. We lost a Vishkar employee as well,"

A long pause followed. Finally, Barbie spoke back up. "Akande, are you sure you can handle this mission?"

"I can!" Doomfist blurted out, furious. "I am very capable! Ask anyone in Talon!"

"All right, all right," Barbie assured him through the laptop screen. "I believe you. And besides, given what happened when the Nomads discovered Overwatch in one of their houses, I believe Winston may take you up on your deal next time, hm?"

Doomfist only sighed. "One can hope, I suppose. I'm going to ask Talon for backup-"

"No need," Barbie cut in. "I'll send you the team I've been training, including the assassin. Her name is Angel, and she is very skilled at what she does,"

"That will do, then," Doomfist gave a nod. "My apologies for today,"

Barbie waved him off. "No need to worry. We will reach our victory in time,"

She ended the webcam call, turning away from her desk and stopping to stretch. Despite hundreds of years of sitting at desks, she limbs always felt stiff after prolonged periods of work.

Barbara stood up, heading to a small kitchenette connecting to her office and heating up an instant meal in the microwave. Once this was done, she spooned the meal of liverwurst, cottage cheese, and lima beans onto a porcelain plate, which she slid into a slot beneath a nearby door.

"Here's your meal, love," she cooed into the slot. "When you're finished with it, I'll have a job for you to do,"

She then pressed a button on the wall, speaking into it. "Angel, come here at once. I have a new assignment for you, "

* * *

The shuttle bus sped down the roads, crossing from the urban parts of town into the rural area. They stopped at a pleasant neighborhood, and Winston pointed out a cottage resting by some fields.

"There," he confirmed. "That's where the garage sale was held, and that's where I saw him,"

Engineer turned and squinted at it. "Well, I sure as hell wasn't expecting a wizard to live in a little place like that,"

"Yes," Spy mused. "Perhaps he shares it with someone,"

Soldier snorted. "No way Merasmus is married! No way,"

Scout shrugged. "I dunno, man. Maybe he got some money finally and now he's a sugar daddy,"

"Ew," Sniper made a face. "Please don't call Merasmus a 'sugar daddy' again,"

Karen sighed, rising from her seat. "Come on, let's just see if he's home,"

The wizard poured hot water into a cup of loose tea leaves as the radio played quiet songs beside him, and he was just about to turn to the station playing his favorite radio show when a voice called from the living room.

"Uh, Merasmus, sir? You have a, uh...visitor,"

Merasmus huffed, calling over his shoulder, "Can it wait!? Who is it, Eve?"

There was a silence. Merasmus waited, and when there was nothing, he pulled the chair up to the kitchen table and started to sit down.

"Oh, no, no-" Eve's voice suddenly broke in, but it was too late. Footsteps came charging up behind Merasmus, and when he turned around, he was startled to see none other than Soldier charging at him.

Merasmus shrieked, dropping the teacup and spilling the beverage all over the floor. "What the-!? How in God's name did you find me!?"

"Your new house is too small for you!" Soldier barked. "And is the chubby woman your wife?"

Merasmus did not answer, and he climbed up onto the table and snatched a frying pan from the kitchen cabinet. "Stay back!" he thrust the pan in Soldier's direction. "I-I could enchant this and use it to turn you into a toad or-or a bat-" he froze when he noticed the other familiar faces which had entered his kitchen. "What is going on!? Eve, did you let them in!?"

Eve poked her head in the doorway, looking helpless. "I'm sorry, sir. They're with an Overwatch member who needs to speak to you!"

"Eh?" Merasmus lowered the pan, squinting at his guests. "One of you joined Overwatch? That band of ridiculous-"

"No, they didn't," Winston finally entered the kitchen, and Merasmus seemed, surprisingly, unfazed by the gorilla's presence.

"Oh. You," he sighed, climbing off the table and eyeing the DVD Winston held. "Have you come to return it? I will give you double back if you promise to remove them from my home,"

Winston beckoned Merasmus. "Actually, I need to speak with you. Are you aware that this DVD contains footage that could prove the murderer Adel Heinz's innocence?"

Merasmus went silent. "Well...what?"

"Yeah, tell us why you got a video of Medic gettin' arrested!" Scout snapped, crossing his arms. "How'd you get it?"

"Yes, and why did you not tell the authorities?" Karen wanted to know.

Merasmus shook his head. "Oh, no, no...there's been a misunderstanding-"

"All I need to know is where you got it and why you had it," Winston was getting annoyed. "Did you steal this off of the police? Did you help frame someone who's now on death row?"

"No!" Merasmus sounded offended. "I did no such thing! I have no reason to. I bought it from a witch, who said it was one of those 'cursed' DVDs. That was over 20 years ago, now,"

Winston sighed. "Well, can you tell me the 'witch's' name?"

Merasmus threw up his hands. "I do not remember, all right!? It was at a magic flea market, that's all I can say,"

Spy's eyes narrowed at the wizard. "You're hiding something,"

"That is the truth, I swear," Merasmus took a breath. "I am aware that Adel is your Medic, however. So, this is why I am going to help you save him from execution, even though I would rather not,"

There was a long pause.

"I'm sorry, what?" Engineer spoke up finally, blinking slowly.

"Why would you wanna do that?" Demo sounded surprised.

"You will find out soon," Merasmus answered simply. "It's the same reason I've been helping all of you regain your past memories. I was going to come to all of you for this, but since you have come to me-"

Winston broke in suddenly. "Wait, wait, hang on just a minute!"

Scout waved the gorilla off. "This doesn't concern you-"

"Yes, it does!" Winston exclaimed. "You are not about to break a death row inmate out of prison!"

"And what if we do?" Scout crossed his arms and stuck his chin out, daring Winston to say more. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Winston huffed. "You can't be serious. I'm the leader of Overwatch-"

Merasmus cut him off. "Be quiet, you. No matter what you do the release of Adel Heinz is something that needs to happen,"

Winston's eye twitched, and he breathed deeply. "No. What's going to happen is I will turn in the DVD to the proper authorities so it can be considered before any execution happens,"

"Oh, hell, they're not going to consider it!" Sniper blurted out. "Medic is a murderer as far as everyone is concerned right now! They won't do shit-"

"Guys, stop!" Engineer snapped, silencing Sniper. He looked around. "Where did Pyro go!?"

Everyone fell silent, and Merasmus groaned. "Oh, no, you have to find that creature! It probably got into my fire spell kit,"

"Pyro is a she!" Soldier corrected.

As everyone continued to bicker, Heavy's eyes wandered away from his companions and to the window, where the curtains were parted. There, in Merasmus's yard, Pyro was wandering around, yet she seemed to be focused on something ahead. Heavy squinted, and then slowly went for the back door.

"Pyro?" Heavy approached her, slowly. "What is it?"

Pyro paused and then pointed to the trees in the distance. She muttered something which was muffled by the mask over her head.

Heavy turned to look at the trees, and his heart dropped like a stone when he noticed the tall, dark figure watching them. Thinking fast, he grabbed Pyro by the shoulders and began dragging her quickly towards the house. "Go! Go inside! Quick, quick!"

The back door flung open, and Engineer came running out, sensing the panic. "What's going on!?"

Heavy said nothing and only pushed Pyro into Engineer's arms, bolting towards the trees. Yet as he stepped into the brush, the figure had vanished, but he still felt as though he was being watched.

He stood very still, his fists clenched, and he snarled under his breath, "I know she sent you. Stay away from them,"

"Heavy!" somebody blurted out, and Heavy looked over his shoulder. Demo and Soldier came running towards him, both obviously preparing for some sort of altercation.

"Where is he!?" Soldier ran into the brush, swinging. "Point out the bastard-"

Heavy grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back. "He left. I will let him escape this time, but if he returns, then we can kill him,"

"Who was it?" Demo wanted to know.

"Someone very bad," Heavy muttered, turning once more to glare into the trees. "Someone we've met before, "

* * *

The Nomads' underground habitat had tunnels connecting the houses to each other, and Symmetra counted in her head the number of basements they'd passed through so far: five. Five basements. This meant they'd walked beneath five houses. She knew they were basements based solely on the wiring and lighting, although the tunnels carved through each room made them into hallways.

Eventually, Hanzo led her and Genji to what appeared to be an old trailer, decorated in Christmas lights and glitter paint. Hanzo knocked once, and a voice called from within, "You may enter!"

He opened the door, inviting the two inside, and greeted, "Hello, there. I hope we aren't interrupting anything,"

Upon a tattered old couch in the trailer sat a woman who appeared to be in her fifties, and she wore a long gown with rhinestones sewn into it. There was a scar on her upper lip, with a single hair protruding from it.

Beside her sat a much younger woman. In fact, as Symmetra looked at her, it occurred to her that this girl had to be thirteen years old, at most. Her dark hair lay strewn upon her shoulders, and she combed through it with a broken, plastic comb.

The older woman smiled at Hanzo, rising from the couch. "Hello, Hanzo. I see you brought our guests?"

"Yes," Hanzo confirmed, gesturing. "This is my brother, Genji, and with him is a Vishkar employee, Miss Symmetra,"

Symmetra's eye twitched at the title. "Please, Symmetra is fine, no 'Miss'," she spoke up quietly, mostly to herself.

The woman stepped forward to look at Genji, squinting at him. "Interesting...half-Omnic?"

"Not really," Genji responded. "Well...sort of, I guess,"

She moved on to look at Symmetra, and her demeanor changed. "A Vishkar employee," her lips pursed together. "And are the rumors true? Is your company planning to eradicate our people?"

Symmetra's voice failed her for a few seconds. Finally, she managed, "Y...yes, ma'am. I'm sorry-"

"Oh, please," sighed the woman. "You're just a mere employee. It probably was not your call to do this, was it?"

"No, ma'am. It wasn't,"

The woman gave a curt nod. "I assumed just as much," she then introduced herself. "I'm Kirsten Anthony, the ruler of the Nomads. Of course, they rule themselves in a way, but I keep them together and they look to me for guidance,"

"Then, Kirsten, why aren't you stopping them from cannibalizing tourists?"Genji wanted to know. "That's why Vishkar wants them gone in the first place. I mean, I don't agree with the actions they're taking to make that happen, but-"

"The Nomads only kill and eat those who deserve it!" the girl on the couch piped up, jumping off. "They eat the rich, the parasites who caused them to end up this way!"

Genji looked at the girl quizzically. "And who are you?"

"My name is Olive," she explained matter-of-factly. "And I was upper class once until I met Kirsten and I realized how evil the rich really are. Now I run with the Nomads, I quit school to live here,"

"And how old are you?" Genji asked.

"Fourteen, I'll be fifteen next month," Olive replied. "I practice witchcraft, too. Every Nomad does,"

Genji turned to look at Hanzo, trying to tell him without using words that nothing about this situation was normal, but Hanzo didn't respond to him. Instead, he only nodded at Olive. "Yes, Olive. You're a very good witch,"

This seemed to please Olive, and she sat back down on the sofa. Kirsten spoke again.

"As for you, Genji, while I appreciate Overwatch's effort, the Nomads can take care of themselves. Your intervention isn't necessary-"

"No!" Symmetra blurted out, and the whole room fell silent. After a moment, she composed herself. "I...listen, you cannot keep living here. If Vishkar doesn't get rid of you, someone else will try. You can't keep killing people and saying it's for a good cause,"

"Why not?" Olive sneered. "That's what the government does all the time!"

Kirsten silenced Olive with a wave of her hand. "Quiet. Symmetra, believe me. We have a plan, and we have help in higher places. Do not worry about us,"

Genji tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean by 'help in high places'?"

Kirsten did not answer. She twirled her graying hair in her fingers and started chanting quietly to herself. It sounded like she was saying,

"Four for the children, from the trees and birds,

Three for the men, from the beach and water,

Two for the women, from the sand and earth,

and one for-"

"That's enough," Hanzo cut in, grabbing both Genji and Symmetra by the hands. "Come, it's best that we go,"

As the door shut behind them, Genji suddenly burst out, "What the hell was that!? What is going on!? Hanzo, can you just tell me?"

"I will, I will. I need to take you to Overwatch first," Hanzo told him quickly, beckoning the two. "The other Overwatch agents are still around, come on,"

Symmetra turned around to look once more at the door, where she saw the face of Olive appear in the window. Olive stared blankly at her for a few seconds, and then she closed the curtain.

* * *

 **Ahhh, I'm so sorry this is so late! Hopefully, this was an interesting chapter to come back with. I've been very busy with school and I have finals approaching, so I haven't been as active on here as I've wanted to be.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'll try to get a new update out when I have the chance. Thanks!**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19:

"Throat drop?" Ana offered, handing one over.

Roadhog nodded, accepting it. "Thanks,"

He lifted his mask slightly to pop it into his mouth while looking at the two Talon agents through the two-way glass. "I've never done a questioning before. Not this kind anyway,"

Ana shrugged. "Well, I figured you would be good at it. Since you're so intimidating and all,"

Roadhog couldn't help but chuckle. "I guess you're right," he inhaled, long and loud through his mask. "All right, let's do this,"

The door opened, and both entered, seeing Reaper and Moira restrained to separate chairs. Ana stopped to stare at Reaper for a few seconds before taking a breath.

"Let's start this the easy way: just give us a list of reasons why you attacked the base today. It can be a short or long list, we've got time,"

"We're aren't telling you anything, let's be clear on that," Reaper hissed. "More Talon agents will be coming for us, and you'll all be dead,"

Roadhog took a step forward, his giant figure looming over Reaper. "Oh, really?" he clapped his meaty hand on the smaller man's shoulder, his masked eyes staring into Reaper's eyes, which were also concealed by a mask. "You might want to consider that again,"

Reaper jolted only slightly but held his ground. "Do you think I'm scared of you? I know you have Black Flu- you'll be dead within the month, asshole!"

All of the sudden, Roadhog lifted Reaper up, chair and all, preparing to smash him into the ground. Ana put out a hand to stop him before he could. "Mako! Stop it! It's not the time for that yet,"

Growling, Roadhog set Reaper down with a thud but did not injure him. Ana prodded Roadhog out of the way to stare Reaper in the eyes. "Listen here, Gabe: it's certainly bold of you to mock an enemy for having Black Flu when your sniper has the same illness,"

The room went silent. Moira's expression changed from a cold and blank one to one of distress, and she looked away quickly, muttering to herself with wide eyes.

This got Ana's attention. "Moira? Do you have something to share with us?"

Moira looked back, and she pursed her lips together in irritation. "No, Ana, dear. I do not,"

"Widowmaker has Black Flu!?" Reaper demanded to know. "Why did she tell you this and not us!?"

"Oh, she never said anything about it," Ana responded. "But the sickness progressed to the point where everyone could see it. I'm actually surprised you didn't know she had it since you all seem to spend every waking moment around each other," she paused, then inquired, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about the Black Flu spread, would you?"

Reaper suddenly leapt from his chair, the shackles still connecting him to the furniture but not stopping him. He lunged at Ana, only to be struck down instantly by Roadhog and knocked unconscious.

Ana sighed. "Thank you, Mako. Get these two into separate cells,"

Roadhog slung Reaper over his shoulder while he seized Moira by the wrists. "Should I arrange to get them to prison?"

"Not yet," Ana answered, heading for the door. "I'm going to ask Winston what his actual intentions for them are,"

Ana headed to Winston's office, where she saw him just arriving at it. "There you are, Winston! I was going to ask-"

"Hang on, Ana, I'm sorry," Mercy entered with a clipboard in her hand. "Winston, we need to talk about Widowmaker-"

"One at a time!" Winston nearly barked. He took a deep breath. "Okay. I apologize, I just had a stressful meeting with a wizard- don't ask. Anyway, please come inside,"

Winston ushered the two women inside, where he began, "Angela, please go first,"

Mercy sat down in one of the chairs, crossing a leg over her lap and laying the clipboard aside. "Winston, I did a full examination on Widowmaker or Amélie Lacroix, and I've made some discoveries. First of all, she has Black Flu,"

"How long as she had it?" Winston wanted to know.

"I'm not sure precisely how long, but it has been in her system for a while. She hasn't had it as long as Roadhog, though," Mercy responded. "I also discovered something else, something I didn't expect to find," she paused, and then checked her clipboard again before continuing. "She's also pregnant,"

Winston froze. "...What?"

Mercy sighed. "Yes, it appears she's pregnant, and rather far along, too. Although she certainly doesn't look it,"

"How do you know how far along she is?" Ana asked, perplexed.

"I did an ultrasound," Mercy explained. "I discovered the pregnancy through a urine test, and to confirm if it was accurate I did the ultrasound. She's at least six months along, but she's not in good condition, not in the slightest. If her baby is born alive, it's likely going to have developmental issues due to the restricted oxygen, and the Black Flu will possibly damage its health as well,"

Winston took all of this in, and then asked, "What was Amélie's reaction to this?"

Mercy shrugged. "No reaction when I told her. I think she knew. I asked her who the father was, and she didn't say. I chose not to pry her for more information on that,"

"What did you learn about the baby, when you did the ultrasound?" Winston wanted to know. "Does it also have Black Flu?"

"I couldn't tell," Mercy admitted. "Not from the examination I did. It's big enough to survive outside of the womb, though, and if a cure for this virus is not found in time, she would need an emergency cesarean section,"

"Before the virus shuts her body down," Ana remarked quietly. She cleared her throat, turning her attention to Winston. "Should we keep them all here?"

Winston thought for a while, his eyes fixated on the floor. "Well," he spoke after a moment. "I want to keep them here for more questioning and investigation, especially Widowmaker. If the other two continue not to cooperate, then we'll have them moved to an institution,"

Mercy and Ana exchanged glances, and then Mercy nodded. "Thank you, Winston, "

* * *

The TV played a strange, old cartoon at a low volume. Widowmaker watched it from the bed she was restrained to, although she hardly paid much attention to it. She wished the Overwatch agents would just kill her already and get it over with, her existence was already miserable at this point.

She heard the door open but didn't look to see who it was. It was probably the doctor again.

However, this thought was banished when a masculine voice cut in, "Oh, you actually are in here. Lucky guess,"

Brow furrowing a bit in slight confusion, she looked up. _Oh...it's him._

Sniper approached her bed, his hands in his pockets as he leaned in to get a better look at her. "Hey, there. I just...I'm leavin' for my hotel soon. I wanted to check and see if you were doing okay,"

Widowmaker only stared at him blankly from where she was restrained. "You should have killed me,"

"Well, I didn't want to," Sniper told her simply. "I wanted to let you live. Besides, you're already sick,"

She didn't respond to that, and she just looked away, gazing at the TV again. There was a pause, and Sniper sat beside her on the edge of the bed. "Widowmaker-"

"Don't call me by that name," she hissed suddenly. She turned to look back at him. "You...I want you to call me Amélie,"

"Amélie," Sniper repeated, and he smiled. "That's a lovely name,"

"Thank you," she murmured in response.

The door opened suddenly, and Demo stuck his head in. "There you are! I wondered where you'd gotten off ta. We're leavin' in a hot second, we just dropped Heavy back off,"

"Ah, yeah, 'course. I'm comin'," he turned and waved awkwardly at Amélie. "Goodbye. I'll see you later, okay?"

She only nodded at him, looking away as he left the room.

Demo didn't ask questions about what he'd seen until everyone was back in the van on the way to the hotel, and it was then that he announced, "You lads should know that our brilliant little Aussie bagged himself a French blue woman!"

Sniper whirled around in his seat, swatting at Demo with his hat. "You cheeky little-!"

"Ew, her!?" Scout made a sound of disgust. "No offence, Snipes- I mean, she's hot and all, but she looks creepy as Hell! With those yellow eyes? No thank you!"

"Oh, and like the bird you're after is any better lookin'," Sniper scoffed.

"Hey, hey!" Karen interjected. "Don't talk about women's appearances like that, okay?"

"Right, sorry," Sniper corrected himself, apologetic. "By the way, Scout, did you ask that girl out yet?"

Scout shook his head. "Nah. Well, I tried to, but she wouldn't give me a straight answer. I might try again soon,"

"Which girl is that?" Spy asked from the back seat. "Tracer?"

"You bet!" Scout remarked. "She's really cute, and she saved my life!"

Spy went silent for a few seconds. "I don't know, Scout," he spoke up finally. "When I saw her today, she seemed...oh, how do I say it?"

Scout turned to look at him from his own seat, glaring daggers at his father. "She seemed _what?_ "

"She seemed gay to me," Spy affirmed finally. "I think she's a lesbian,"

Scout immediately scoffed at the notion. "Hell no! There's no way, I mean..." he trailed off, pausing. "I mean...how can you tell?"

Spy shrugged. "Everything. Her demeanour, her appearance, her behaviour: everything,"

Karen turned in her seat to look at Spy, a rather annoyed expression on her face. "Seriously, Spy? Are you really doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"You're doing the whole 'gay-dar' thing, and I don't appreciate it!" Karen chided. "I mean, you can't tell stuff like that based off of how someone looks!"

Spy raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you think she's straight?"

"I don't know, okay?" Karen rolled her eyes, turning to look at her phone. "I mean, none of you knew I was gay for years, so-"

"Hold up," Scout cut in. "You're...you're _gay?_ "

The entire car was silent now. Karen took a deep breath. "Um...yeah. I'm a lesbian,"

"I thought you were American!" Soldier piped up.

"Well, ya know what, Karen?" Engineer commented from the driver's seat. "I'm glad we were all born again into a world that's a little more accepting than the last,"

"It's really just the same world as before," Sniper commented, staring out the window. "Things have just changed a bit, "

* * *

Upon returning back to the hotel, Karen got back to her job effortlessly. She went to vacuum a few rooms, and then wipe down some bathrooms. Yet as she was leaving one of the rooms, someone grabbed her and pulled her aside.

Karen yelped in surprise. "What the-!?"

"Shh!" a finger pressed against her lips, silencing her. It was Sombra.

Sombra turned Karen around to look her in the eyes, an expression of concern written across her features. "You need to get out of here, now," she whispered. "You gotta leave, quick!"

Karen squirmed to get away. "What-what are you talking about?"

"I'm telling you this because you're the only bitch here I respect," Sombra hissed. "So listen to me and get out while you can!"

And just like that, Sombra vanished.

Feeling panicked, Karen left her cart behind and started jogging briskly down the hallway, speaking into the device on her utility belt. "Hey, I need some help. Did anyone notice-"

Suddenly, a noise which sounded like a firework going off came from further down the hallway, and Karen lost her footing from the impact and tumbled onto the carpet. Grunting, she pushed herself up, looking over her shoulder to see that the broom closet had apparently exploded.

Numbly, she approached the scene, mouth opened wide as she stared at the destroyed closet. Concerned residents slowly began to filter out of their rooms, murmuring in confusion as they took in the destruction before them.

The presence of the customers seemed to snap Karen out of the trance, and she pressed the button on her belt again. "David!? Engie! We have a problem!"

He responded, "What's goin' on?"

"You aren't gonna believe this, but-"

Another explosion went off, this one coming from a floor below, but much louder and more forceful this time. Screams began ringing through the halls, and Karen tried to compose herself again.

"No one panic!" she ran for the fire alarm, pulling it and shouting, "Everyone, out! Quickly!"

"Karen, what's goin' on up there!?" Engineer yelled through the device. "Why did you pull the fire alarm!?"

"Everyone has to evacuate!" Karen yelled back. "There have been at least 2 explosions! I think someone planted bombs in the building!"

Karen helped usher customers down the stairs, and then began to make her way down the stairs herself, when she heard a ticking sound. She froze, and then knelt down, and her gut twisted when she realized what the sound was.

"Everyone, run!" She screamed, jolting up and trying to get everyone down to the next floor. "Quickly! There's-"

At the bottom of the stairwell on the floor below, Scout, Spy, Sniper and Demo were just evacuating when the second explosion went off behind them. Demo turned to look instantly, and the severed hand of a man flew towards him and struck him in the side.

"Oh, Lord!" he exclaimed, and the screams got louder from the stairs just above.

Karen came tumbling down, toppling onto the carpet, and Scout rushed to her aid. "Shit! What the hell's goin' on!?"

Karen coughed, struggling to her feet. "Help everyone off! Make sure someone gets here!" she looked behind again, and she covered her mouth at the sight of the destruction and scattered remains. "Oh, my _God!_ "

At this moment, Soldier came rushing in, exclaiming, "I'm here!"

Sniper was up instantly, trying to get him out. "No! It's too dangerous-"

Soldier grabbed his collar, growling at him, "Don't tell me what's dangerous!" and then disappeared into the flock of people.

"Soldier!" Scout tried to look for him, but Spy pulled him back.

"We need to leave! Come on!"

Eventually, just about everyone was outside, but a handful of people were still unaccounted for, including Soldier. Engineer was outside with everyone now, and he was frantically trying to figure out how this had happened.

"Did you see anybody near the stairs or utility closets before this!?" he was shouting at various bewildered employees. "Anybody at all!?"

No one was giving clear answers, everyone was still stressed and terrified. It was then that the fourth, and final explosion went off, this one bigger than the others.

Debris went flying, along with ash and dust, and the hotel's sprinkler system turned on in response. The people outside could hear the water rushing from the shattered windows, and everything else was silent.

"Soldier!?" Scout leapt up, running towards the building. "Soldier!"

Engineer chased after him. "Scout! Get back here!"

Scout looked in through the windows but saw no one, and he began panicking. "Oh, my God, oh my God! He got blown up!"

This, however, was not the case, as one of the front doors to the hotel swung wide open.

Soldier came limping out, announcing, "Congratulations, maggots! I have been informed that what just happened was the last explosion. We..." he trailed off, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.

The others swarmed him, and Demo checked his pulse. "Ah, he's all right," he confirmed. "He just fainted, there,"

Someone else emerged from the wreckage, and Karen was the one to look up from where she was crouched. Her eyes got wide when she saw who was coming.

"It's..." she stood up, and she got Engineer's attention by shaking his shoulder. "Look! Look who it is!"

The woman, who carried a large gun at her side, dropped the weapon on the ground and ran to Soldier, where she knelt beside him and touched his face. She then looked up at the others, who all looked stunned to see her.

She scanned their faces for a moment, and then asked, "Where is my brother!? Is he with you!?"


End file.
